


Of Fangs and Flowers

by SplendentGoddess



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Injury, F/M, Falling In Love, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Original Character Death(s), Romance, Serial Killers, Sex, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:06:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 40,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SplendentGoddess/pseuds/SplendentGoddess
Summary: Sequel to Silver Fang! How are Kagome and Inuyasha adjusting to their new lives? And what complications arise when a new vampire in town threatens Rin's safety?
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Kudos: 30
Collections: Fang





	Of Fangs and Flowers

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

========================

Original post date on mediaminer: 10/30/12

A/N:

This one-shot is a sequel to my first AU Halloween one-shot Silver Fang. I highly, _highly_ recommend reading Silver Fang first if you have not already done so, otherwise you will be very confused.

Also, in keeping with my own personal tradition when it comes to making sequels to my Halloween fics, this story takes place one year later. Enjoy!

``````````````````````

~ Of Fangs and Flowers ~

Nervously adjusting the strap of her purse, a young woman of twenty nine years with long, jet black hair and strikingly gorgeous royal blue eyes that most people assumed had to be contacts, continued her trek down the busy sidewalk. Despite the late hour, twilight making way for nightfall, the streets of downtown in the small city were still bustling with activity, busy people marching to-and-fro. Many of them were most likely on their way to dinner, as was she, even though for her it was really breakfast time.

Rounding the corner, Kagome spied the small steakhouse that was her destination and released a heavy sigh, willing the tension to flow from her body. She could do this.

Entering the establishment, Kagome smiled awkwardly at the hostess who greeted her with a warm, welcoming grin.

“One for dinner?” she asked cheerfully.

“Uh, Higurashi, party of two,” Kagome stated then, and the hostess’ smile remained firmly in place as she said, “Oh! Yes, your other party has already arrived. Right this way...”

Adjusting her purse strap again, Kagome followed behind the girl who led her to a table in the back of the room, and her blue eyes lit up in genuine happiness at the sight of the woman waiting for her arrival. Barely acknowledging the hostess as she told the women their server would be with them shortly, Kagome mumbled something that sounded like thanks before eagerly returning the embrace of the woman who’d stood from her seat to more properly greet her dinner guest.

“Mama...oh, I’ve missed you,” Kagome mumbled against her mother’s shirt as the elder Higurashi woman hugged her daughter tightly.

Reluctantly separating herself from her daughter before too many people turned to stare, Mrs. Higurashi sat back down, then, quickly followed by Kagome.

“It’s so good to finally see you in person,” Mrs. Higrashi agreed, their weekly phone calls having been better than nothing although it’d still been torturous for both women since, prior to what the werewolf clan referred to those days as ‘the incident’, Kagome had still been living at home.

It was such a delicate, and plain ol’ unheard of situation, that nobody really knew how to deal with it. A werewolf turned into a vampire? And while nobody really questioned where Kagome’s loyalties lied, and they knew that neither she nor Inuyasha would ever lift a finger against a single member of the pack, that didn’t mean that the wolf clan as a whole was ready to become buddy-buddy with a couple of vampires, either.

Even Souta was still having trouble adjusting to the idea, although the fifteen-year-old had finally come around to the idea that having Kagome still be alive but as a vampire was better than if she had died. They’d even spoken over the phone a couple of times, although Kagome had been able to tell the calls had been awkward for him, their mother having basically shoved the phone in his face.

Then her grandfather’s reaction had been surprising for Kagome in a different way. She had expected him to completely freak out, possibly even disowning her while saying she should have chosen death, or that the entire thing was her fault for having allowed her hormones to get the better of her when she’d ended up having wild, passionate battle sex with Inuyasha in the middle of a darkened alleyway. She’d thought that he would call her a disgrace to their kind, maybe even a whore, but instead, the wise old wolf had adopted a view similar to their pack leader, Kaede, in that all things happened for a reason and that for _some_ reason, even if they couldn’t fathom what it was, it had simply been destiny for Kagome to meet Inuyasha and ultimately get sired by him.

Be that as it may, Kagome still didn’t feel comfortable getting too close to Pine Shadow Estates those days, and not just because the scent of so many wolves in such close quarters was actually rather noxious to her nose. She was also afraid of what they might think, or worse, what they might say to her family, if they disapproved of her close proximity. The former she-wolf didn’t want to make life any more uncomfortable for the rest of her family than necessary, and so as a result she and her mother had resorted to weekly phone calls just to keep in touch.

Time had gone by, as time often did, and then before either of them had realized it nearly one entire year had passed, and then finally it had been Mrs. Higurashi who had insisted on a face-to-face meeting, stating that she’d brave being the one to cross the invisible species barrier and head outside of wolf territory.

Fortunately, there usually weren’t any other vampires around besides Kagome and Inuyasha, anyway, and even when there were one or two other vampires in town, like now, none of them had ever been an issue since _the incident_.

Vampires had never really stuck around in their small city for long periods of time to begin with, since it would raise suspicions if too many deaths started cropping up in such a localized area. Just as Kagome had accused Inuyasha of doing on that fateful night, vampires, as a general rule of thumb, were like locusts, swooping in and taking what they needed before then moving on to the next town, and after word had spread into the neighboring cities that that particular town had two _permanent_ vampire residents that were actually allied with the local wolf pack, _most_ other vampires knew what was best for them and kept their distance.

Kagome and her mother probably could have gotten together much sooner, since it was really no more dangerous for her mother to be beyond the wolves’ borders on that night than it would have been on any previous evening, whether there were any other vampires within the city limits or not, but to be completely honest Kagome had been a bit of a wreck at first, anyway, the former werewolf busy adjusting to her new life and new body. So many things had changed so quickly, and Kagome really had lost track of time. Not to mention a part of her had admittedly been a little hesitant to see her mother again, for fear that there would be a look of pity or remorse in the older woman’s eyes.

As Kagome sat across from her mother in that moment, though, the older woman was looking at her daughter mostly with joy, with perhaps a tiny bit of motherly concern sprinkled in for good measure, but pity and remorse were noticeably absent.

“You’re so pale,” she murmured low. Kagome’s sun-kissed tan was a thing of the past.

The former werewolf merely shrugged. “Comes with the territory, I guess.”

“Well, I think your new eye color is absolutely beautiful,” her mother stated then, her smile back in place as the hint of worry left her voice. She’d thought it inappropriate to comment on it the morning her daughter had been turned, all things considered, but she really did love the new color.

“Thanks,” Kagome beamed, her smile back in place as well. “So do I.”

As their waitress came by to take their orders neither woman worried about the fact that they hadn’t really looked over the menu. Both ordering the special, which was a prime rib steak, Kagome specified hers be _very_ rare, and then once the waitress was gone the women resumed their conversation, keeping their voices low enough so that the surrounding humans would not overhear them.

“So how have you been adjusting, really?” Mrs. Higurashi asked then, wanting to see the look in her daughter’s eyes as she answered.

Sure, they’d talked over the phone, and Mrs. Higurashi knew some things about her daughter’s life already, like how she and Inuyasha had moved into a decent apartment together, and how Kagome had had to leave her job as a nurse at the hospital to become a late night server in a 24-hour diner, but it was hard to judge from just the sound of her voice how Kagome was _really_ doing.

“I’m...all right,” the vampire answered slowly, releasing another sigh. “It’s been a hard transition, but I’m getting the hang of it these days. I miss being a nurse, and I’m sure I could have worked it so that I only had the graveyard shift, but there was just no way in hell I could’ve worked around the smell of blood every night. I hated having to lie to my friends, but in a way it wasn’t really a lie, that I just couldn’t handle all the blood and death anymore. They’ve got no idea the real reason why, but at least I was as honest as I could be with my reason for quitting.”

Mrs. Higurashi nodded her understanding at that.

Kagome adopted a whimsical smile, chuckling a little, before shaking her head in amusement and continuing.

“Inuyasha’d said it would’ve been cool if things really worked like how they show on TV, if I could’ve gotten us both a ton of free blood from the hospital so that we wouldn’t have had to hunt so often.” She snorted. “Like nobody would’ve noticed all these missing bags of blood, yeah right.”

Mrs. Higurashi chuckled at that as well, before her eyes took on a bit of a concerned look again.

“And you are...eating...well enough?” she asked, sounding like she was hesitant to voice the question but needed to hear the answer all the same.

Kagome just rolled her eyes, this having been a topic they’d discussed over the phone on numerous occasions.

“Mom, we’ve been through this. I’m not going to let my morals turn me into a starved weakling just so that I can get bumped off more easily. There are plenty of nasty humans in this world, regular men who are already monsters in their own right, and so I don’t mind preying on that kind of scum. Makes me feel proud, actually, like I’m a vigilante or something. Every would-be rapist or serial killer that makes the fatal mistake of thinking me an easy victim is one less monster on the street putting innocent women at risk, and while it’s true that there’s not really a dangerous, crime infested underground here in suburbia, it’s only a few hours’ drive into the major metropolitan areas, the concrete jungle, where we pretty much have our pick of the litter, if you’ll forgive the pun.”

She winked, her mother chuckling at the canine reference.

“The way Inuyasha and I have worked out our routine, our occasional kills don’t raise any red flags,” Kagome continued, her mother nodding her understanding.

Mrs. Higurashi was secretly proud that her daughter had not fully lost herself to the new type of demon she had become, maintaining her sense of right and wrong despite needing to do whatever it took to survive. She didn’t begrudge other vampires their ways, but for herself and her own peace of mind, Kagome had decided that _she_ needed to do it _this_ way, Inuyasha complying because of his feelings for her, and for that Mrs. Higurashi was grateful.

Inuyasha and her daughter probably weren’t the only stationary vampires in existence, the she-wolf was sure, but the few others who might’ve chosen that route probably also lived in the larger cities where somebody could more easily get away with the occasional feeding unnoticed, their kills blending in with that city’s regular death count from drug and gang related murders. As far as Mrs. Higurashi knew, nobody in the werewolf community had ever heard of a vampire living peacefully in a smaller city without causing any harm to the local inhabitants, until now.

Kagome and Inuyasha lived there, not too close but also not too far away from the nearby foothills, and they never, _ever_ hunted in what they considered to be their own backyard, traveling instead the few hours it took via freeway to head into the much bigger cities, where the trees were replaced by skyscrapers and walking certain side streets alone at night was like wearing a neon sign that said ‘please come rob and/or kill me.’

They could’ve made the move to live in one of the big cities, which almost definitely would have been more convenient for them in the long run, but Kagome hadn’t wanted to leave her hometown, or Rin, and so feeling both guilty and compliant Inuyasha had agreed to make it work. Predatory animals in the wild usually traveled away from the den to their hunting ground, after all. Where there was a will, there was a way.

Going over their available options, the three-centuries-old vampire and his newly minted undead girlfriend had quickly agreed that they didn’t need to hunt every single night. A vampire couldn’t really starve to death, although they got weaker between feedings, so it was all about finding the right balance, and so doing it more like big cats out in the wild they would occasionally go on the hunt and gorge themselves and then go without for several days, or sometimes even weeks at a time, a few small swallows of blood here and there that didn’t kill the victim sometimes tiding them over until the next big hunt if they needed it badly enough.

And Mrs. Higurashi knew how her daughter went about acquiring most of those few swallows, too.

Kagome had explained to her once during a phone call how she’d actually wished it _were_ like how they showed on TV, with secret underground ‘clubs’ where humans in the know with vampire fetishes would actually let you feed from them, but no such luck. However, that didn’t mean there weren’t still secret underground fetish clubs in and of themselves, and it was also true that there were plenty of wanna-be-vampire humans running around in some of those places. Kagome would occasionally go to one of those kinds of clubs in the big city and hide in plain sight, pretending to be a human pretending to be a vampire, and she’d find the guys that were into that sort of thing, accepting of her ‘blood fetish’, and she’d feed from them without causing any permanent damage.

Usually, those men were all hopped up on some kind of drug or another, but that fortunately didn’t matter; the drugs in their system didn’t ruin the quality of their blood for a vampire and so as far as Kagome was concerned the higher and/or drunker they were, the better. They already thought she was a fake vampire, having no idea her make-believe was real, and then thanks to the drugs they’d probably barely even remember any of the details come the following morning, regardless. And if they hypothetically somehow _did_ suspect that she might have been the real thing, it would just get chalked up to the drugs fucking with their heads and that’d be the end of it; nobody they told would believe them, so it was win/win all the way around.

Inuyasha didn’t mind it whenever Kagome fed that way because she never had sex with any of those men; she would find the ones who had their own vampire fetishes and got off on being bitten. Even though they were turned on by her sexually, Inuyasha still tended to think of humans in general as food, and so those men were not competition, they were merely his woman’s next meal. Playing the seductress was a tradition of female vampires dating back thousands of years, and the fact that it came so naturally to her and she was so damn good at luring her prey that way actually made Inuyasha proud rather than jealous.

Besides, he wasn’t without his own need for a few light mouthfuls of blood here and there in between the larger hunts, and there were plenty of chicks, it’d turned out, who had vampire fetishes too. He had never been into the idea of having sex with his prey beforehand to begin with and so Kagome also never got jealous, even though those women would sometimes be all over him, trying to get him to fuck them. For Inuyasha, he simply wasn’t interested, although it was still refreshing that they were actually giving themselves to him, food-wise, as opposed to the tired old cliché of the frightened woman begging for her life.

So long as they thought his fangs were fake and that it was all an act, they got turned on by it, for some strange reason. Sometimes, he even shared them with actual human men who _were_ wanna-be vampires with twisted blood fetishes. Whatever got their rocks off. All he cared about was getting enough blood to sustain himself for the time being, and since there were usually multiple girls with the same fantasy at those places at any given time, having enough to go around was fortunately never really an issue.

He was just glad that he still got to feed from the occasional woman, since whenever they went on their main hunts they usually used Kagome as the bait to lure a bad _man_ or two whom they would then share. It had been a small price to pay for the male vampire, though, switching to feeding from men more often than not. When it really boiled down to it blood was blood, and it was mostly psychological since men and women tasted about the same. Most vampires tended to hunt the opposite sex because they used their own sexual mojo as part of luring their prey, but that was where Kagome came in at those times, and they always disguised their victims’ manner of death afterwards so that the human authorities wouldn’t get suspicious.

Just because a body was missing a lot of blood with no spilt blood visible in the area didn’t automatically mean a vampire was involved, after all. It just meant that the human victim had bled out elsewhere and then the body had been moved. Bite marks became knife stabs and slashes, or gunshot wounds, or sometimes the bodies would be disposed of more thoroughly and the victims became missing persons, whose decomposed remains might eventually be found buried somewhere or floating in a river, and thanks to their gang ties or criminal record as a sexual predator it was never really all that mysterious to the human authorities whenever such bodies were found, either, chalking it up to evil human activity without the faintest suspicion that something supernatural had been involved, or even a new serial killer on the loose.

No more Jack the Ripper victims whose families would cry on the news, begging for justice to be done. Inuyasha had vowed to Kagome right away that he would stop hunting innocent women, his days of being a heartless monster coming to a close, and it was a decision he did not regret. He was still a monster, but she’d reminded him what it was like to have a heart, and for that he was grateful. So whenever he did still feed from a female those days it was usually only in the fetish clubs, but that was all right with him, although there was actually another exception, too. They had a third hunting ground, if they got desperate enough, and it was nondiscriminatory where gender was concerned.

“Worst case scenario, if we have a bad hunt in the gang part of town and the fetish people aren’t out and we’re starving, there’s also always the homeless,” Kagome explained to her mother in that moment. “It’s amazing what some of those people are willing to do, or rather let you do to them, for a good chunk of booze money. But I’ve never really hurt anyone when I’ve had to do it that way, unless it was really a mercy killing ‘cause they had something wrong with them that was already killing them anyway. I hate killing the innocent, but some of those people were so far gone they probably would’ve been dead by morning, anyway, and as sad as it is to say it, nobody reports them missing, so the homeless communities make a good fallback hunting ground if all else fails.”

The werewolf and vampire mother/daughter pair paused in their whispered conversation as their waitress returned with their dinners, and thanking her with kind smiles, the two women then began to eat. Mrs. Higurashi observed in curiosity how Kagome ate her meal without difficulty, including the baked potato. She’d already known her daughter could still eat human food, of course; it was one of the things they’d previous discussed over the phone when they’d first started making arrangements to meet at that restaurant. But it was still an interesting sight to see, since she knew what her daughter _was_.

Most people probably didn’t think about vampires eating regular food, but for them, it was just another part of blending in, part of pretending to be human to better capture their prey. The way Kagome had tactfully explained it, regular food and drink just passed right through their systems without being digested. She’d actually joked that it was the one blessing about becoming a vampire, because now she could gorge herself on all the cake and ice cream she wanted and never gain a pound.

Her taste buds, for the most part, also still worked the same way, and so most foods still tasted the same to her as they had before, although her cravings had definitely changed. She hadn’t ordered her steak rare because it actually did her any benefit over a more cooked one; she craved the _taste_ , much more so than she ever had as a wolf, and it would hold her instincts over until she could get some actual sustenance.

“So how is Inuyasha doing?” Mrs. Higurashi asked in between bites of her own steak.

She’d spoken with the three-hundred-year-old vampire that was her daughter’s sire and boyfriend a few times, much to his horror during their first conversation –

which Kagome had found utterly hilarious, the way his eyes had widened in panic as she’d handed him the phone – but since that first chat the two had actually gotten fairly close. Inuyasha had expressed to Kagome’s mother on multiple occasions that his feelings for her daughter, as out of left field as they were, were real, and that he would never abandon her and would always do right by her.

Mrs. Higurashi had immediately been able to tell that Inuyasha was a man of his word, and there had never been a doubt in her mind that his feelings for Kagome were genuine. The absolute remorse he’d felt as Kagome had lain dying had been obvious to everyone present; even though nobody really understood it, the clan had come to accept his and Kagome’s feelings for one another as fact. Somehow, when she’d still been a werewolf, they had developed a bond, and that bond was even stronger now that he was her sire.

“Oh, he’s fine. Still doing whatever he can on the side to help me earn a little extra money,” Kagome told her mother.

Since Inuyasha had no paperwork he couldn’t get a _real_ job, but since they hung out with the dregs of society on a fairly regular basis anyway, Inuyasha had decided to establish himself as an active member of _that_ community, and he’d since learned what the insiders knew as far as what types of dealings went down on what nights. He steered clear of the gang bangers and drug dealers, as those types of people were their primary targets on hunting nights, but on the nights when Kagome was working her part-time waitressing job in their hometown he would sometimes make the few hour drive into the big city himself and participate in an underground poker game, for example.

His sense of smell easily enabled him to know when somebody was overjoyed with a genuine winning hand versus when they were nervous from bluffing. Who needed to count cards when you could read your opponents’ emotions so well? Other times he also participated in the local fight club, although he always made sure to pull his punches and not cause anyone _serious_ harm, kicking just enough ass to ensure his victory without giving away the fact that the other fighters had never stood a chance.

Fortunately he had enough money to back him up, since those types of places wouldn’t let you play unless you had the ability to pay, but outside of paying for the first and last on his and Kagome’s apartment and buying all of the things that went inside it, and also buying a cheap, used car from a private party for them to use on their commutes, Inuyasha had never lost any more of his savings, and he’d already won back what he’d spent by that point and was continuing to turn a profit every time he participated.

Honestly, he was kicking himself for not having thought of it sooner. He’d been a nomad before meeting Kagome, and the vast majority of his life savings had come from robbing his kills over the years. There was certainly something to be said for staying in one place for a while, though. He’d forgotten what it felt like to have a _home_.

“He teases me that even for vampires having a girlfriend is expensive, ‘cause he’d never needed to spend so much money until I came into his life,” Kagome joked between bites of food, her mother chuckling at the joke as well. “But I’m glad he’s found himself such a niche ‘cause our savings is really building up. Gotta plan for the future, after all,” the vampiress stated as nonchalantly as possible, tiptoeing around the delicate subject that was her newfound immortality.

It kind of really bothered Kagome to know that she’d remain the same while witnessing all of her friends and family grow old and die around her, but that wasn’t happening just yet and so she’d try her best not to think about it. It was what it was.

Eventually changing the subject, Kagome’s mother then asked her how Rin was doing those days, the older woman knowing how the human girl and her daughter had ended up becoming close friends over the last year; a happenstance that had occurred purely by accident.

After Rin’s ‘encounter’ with Inuyasha last Halloween there had been no way the girl would be forgetting his face any time soon, the look of his glowing red eyes having been the cause of many a nightmare for the twenty-two-year-old for the first couple of months. It had been purely by coincidence that she and the vampire pair had ended up running into each other while they had been out shopping for things for their apartment at the 24-hour Walmart, and the girl had proceeded to scream her head off at the sight of Inuyasha before turning and bolting from the store.

Cursing their decision to not breathe for the time being because so many scents clustered together had been too distracting for their noses, which was why neither Inuyasha nor Kagome had recognized the fact that Rin was nearby until it’d been too late, they had dropped the few items they’d been carrying and had immediately ran out after her.

“Wait, Rin! I promise I won’t hurt you!” Inuyasha had shouted after the girl in the darkened parking lot, and shocked that he had actually known her name, Rin had ceased her attempt at escape, stopping her inner cursing for having so foolishly gone out after dark to hesitantly glance back Inuyasha’s way with hopeful eyes.

Hopeful that his promise to not hurt her was true.

Much to the human girl’s continued shock, Inuyasha had then proceeded to apologize for what had happened last Halloween, while also attempting to reassure her that he’d actually never had the intention of taking her life to begin with because of the rules of Halloween and all that. Rin, for her part, had ended up gushing her relief that he was actually _real_ and standing before her because, aside from her family, nobody had ever believed her when she’d told her friends what’d happened. Her parents and older brother had all bore witness to the unnatural black wolf that had saved her life those many years prior out in the woods, and so they had believed her story, knowing the girl just didn’t have it in her to make something like that up, but she’d lost a couple of friends from high school because of it, because they’d thought she was crazy.

“You aren’t crazy,” Inuyasha had assured her, and smiling in pride at her boyfriend, Kagome had then proceeded to introduce herself.

Rin had been even more shocked to learn that the mysterious and beautiful woman standing beside the vampire who’d previously attacked her was in fact the black wolf in question, or at least she’d used to be. Telling Rin at that time only that it was a _very_ long story, Kagome had vowed on her life that the girl had nothing to fear from either she or Inuyasha and that, if Rin wanted, she would be more than happy to explain everything to her in greater detail.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Rin had actually taken Kagome up on her offer, accepting the former werewolf’s cell number with the promise that she’d probably call in a few days’ time, after allowing everything to sink in, and true to her word, Rin had called Kagome only a few days later. After relaying enough details about the infamous camping trip where Rin had nearly died in a rabid wolf attack before a then fifteen-year-old Kagome had come to her rescue, Rin had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that the former werewolf’s words were true, and the two had immediately become close friends.

Rin knew everything, now, not only of how werewolves and vampires were real, but also how the two different demonic species typically interacted and how Kagome and Inuyasha were the sole exceptions to that rule because, being a former werewolf herself, Kagome was trying as hard as she could to stick to her roots despite now being a vampire instead. Rin understood that she still had to be careful, because the occasional other vampire did still come into town for a night or two, and that since it wasn’t really their place to dictate how other members of the species lived their lives Inuyasha and Kagome tended to leave those other vampires alone to do their thing unless they tried to threaten a member of the wolf pack, but Rin was also comforted to know that as a general rule of thumb their little city was actually relatively safe, _especially_ with Kagome’s former pack ‘owning’ the half of the city where she actually lived and worked.

There were enough scent markers to make the property claim obvious to any vampire actually using their nose, and none would dare cross over into wolf territory unless they were looking to sign their death warrant, ‘cause in the event of a vampire/werewolf battle Inuyasha and Kagome would now and forever take the wolves’ side in the fight. They had to. Kagome had to remain loyal to her family, and Inuyasha would remain loyal to _her_ , no matter what.

Of course, Kagome often stressed with Rin that vampires and werewolves weren’t the _only_ monsters in this world, and that there were plenty of bad humans one needed to watch out for, too – Rin even knew how Kagome and Inuyasha did their hunting in the bad parts of town in the big cities for that very reason – but still, as a general rule of thumb their smaller city was relatively safe in that regard, as well, and with Rin no longer having to constantly look over her shoulder for flashes of silvery white hair and crimson red eyes she’d relaxed tremendously over the last several months.

It was also much easier for Kagome to keep an eye on Rin whenever she left the wolves’ territory those days because she no longer had to secretly follow behind the girl from the shadows; whenever Rin needed to head to the store after dark for this or that, she’d just call Kagome up and the two would meet and make it an outing between girlfriends. What better way to ensure the girl’s safety from the occasional random vampire passing through than to be her personal escort while on the vampire side of town, right?

Fortunately, Rin’s family’s flower shop was located within wolf territory, as were a few other small, locally owned business, and so she really only needed to head into the main business district for things like groceries, and most of the time Rin tried to avoid heading into that part of the city at night.

Unless she was actually going over to Kagome and Inuyasha’s apartment for a visit, of course.

The three of them had ended up becoming very close over the last several months, and since Kagome had lost a few of her own friends because of what’d happened last Halloween, too, she actually enjoyed hanging out with Rin as much as the younger girl enjoyed hanging out with her. Kagome never went over to Rin’s place, since the twenty-two-year-old had a roommate who was not in the know, but Rin had long since forgiven Inuyasha for attacking her last Halloween and so she didn’t mind going over to their apartment, even if the male vampire was also home at the time.

Inuyasha didn’t mind her company, either; he was simply too happy for Kagome to worry about whether or not it was weird having a pet human hanging around. He’d long since gotten used to her delicious, floral scent, the girl often smelling of the flowers she worked with on a daily basis at her family’s boutique, and so it wasn’t as if it was torture having the girl around because he still craved the taste of her blood. He’d vowed to Kagome even before siring her that he would never harm Rin and he had no intention of going back on his word, now or ever.

It also wasn’t like the girl hung out with them _all_ the time, but the girls probably visited at least once a week, perhaps meeting for an hour or two to shop and just hang out before Kagome’s night shift at the diner started. Rin had actually also played a part in encouraging Kagome to face seeing her mother again, assuring the vampiress that her mother had to be happy that she was still alive, and that the older woman would surely much rather have her as she was now than not at all.

As Kagome tentatively relayed that part, Mrs. Higurashi fully agreed.

As mother and daughter finished their meals and exited the restaurant, Kagome insisting on getting the bill as the least she could do for her mother being so kind and understanding, the twenty-nine-year-old then decided to walk her mother home, or at least to the border of wolf territory. Taking a deep breath revealed no dangerous scents on the wind, the new vamp in town presently nowhere near their location, but walking her mother home just seemed like the polite thing to do, regardless, and that way their visit could also last for a little while longer.

The two engaged in normal chitchat as they traveled down the sidewalks, and then finally when it was time to part ways the two hugged again before promising to see each other much more frequently than once a year. Halloween was just a week away, after all, and both felt that the age-old tradition of the cease fire between their species would still be honored despite that custom having been shot all to hell the previous year. The two quickly made plans to see each other again on that night if at all possible; perhaps they would attend the local haunted house together and allow themselves to feel amused by the humans’ attempts at pretending to be monsters.

Turning and heading back home after they parted ways, Kagome couldn’t help chuckling to herself at the idea. A vampire and werewolf pretending to be humans, attending as guests a haunted house maze run by humans pretending to be demons? Perhaps she should actually volunteer for the haunted house, Kagome thought with a snicker. That might be fun. Or would it be cheating?

“It’d be a like a woman in a drag show,” she mused aloud, chuckling again as she turned on to her street, deciding to just let the humans have their holiday while she remained an outside observer.

`````````````````````````````

“Go! Go! Go! Go! Wooooooo!” the crowd chanted then cheered, as Inuyasha reached for his shot glass with a shaky hand and, hesitating only a moment for show, knocked it back, slamming it upside down on the table when he was through.

His opponent, not to be outdone, reached for the next shot glass in front of him and knocked it back as well, though with noticeably less coordination.

Reaching for the next full shot glass, many more empty ones littering the table than full ones by that point, Inuyasha drank down that mouthful of whiskey just as quickly as all the others. The crowd was eating it up, the thousand dollar pool whispering in his ear that it wouldn’t be long now, although he was actually starting to feel sorry for his competition. The man would certainly be feeling it tomorrow, provided he didn’t keel over from alcohol poisoning, but Inuyasha wouldn’t let himself feel _too_ guilty about it ‘cause the asshole was actually getting what he deserved, bragging that he could drink the ‘white haired freak’ under the table any night of the week.

He’d called him a sissy, he’d called him a pretty boy, and thems were fightin’ words, but whereas the old Inuyasha would’ve just waited until the man was alone and then ripped his throat out, the new and improved Inuyasha, thanks to Kagome’s loving influence, had decided to just teach the dickhead a lesson...and emptying his wallet at the same time didn’t hurt, either. They’d each gone in five hundred, loser pays the tab; it was the easiest five hundred bucks he’d ever made. Sometimes with cards you had to lose a few hands from time to time so that nobody would get suspicious that you were cheating somehow, but a drinking contest?

“Go! Go! Go! Go!” the crowd cheered again as his opponent took his turn.

“Yyyer m-*hiccup*-ove, freak,” the loser slurred after slamming down his empty glass.

Inuyasha resisted the urge to roll his ‘freakishly’ yellow eyes and sigh.

_That’s what I get for thinking I can actually just hang out in a bar and watch the game while Kagome visits with her mom, I suppose_.

They had a TV at home, too, but silly Inuyasha had thought it might be fun to act like one of the guys for a night.

He reached for his next shot glass.

“Go! Go! Go! Go!”

At least he had a crowd of adoring fans egging him on. Inwardly smirking, he knocked back the drink.

_And the crowd goes wild_... he mentally chuckled as the entire bar did just that.

Frowning, his opponent reached for his next shot glass, or tried to, but the inertia of his arm moving forward was enough to throw off his balance and he ended up leaning too far forward over the table before sliding out of his seat and landing on his ass on the floor. Inuyasha had just _literally_ drank him under the table. The bar erupted into laughter as the drunk man tried and failed to get back up, hitting his head on the underside of said table, and then the bartender decided it was time to put a stop to their game before somebody got hurt, declaring Inuyasha the winner.

Collecting his money off of the table, Inuyasha’s nose twitched as the door opened and a lovely sight walked in to greet him.

“Heyyyaa, beeeutiful,” he deliberately slurred, keeping in character as Kagome, with an amused grin, headed over to the table.

“Here you are. I came home and you weren’t there,” she stated rather obviously, unsure if she should act amused or displeased though in reality she was feeling the former as she took in the situation.

“But you found me.” He grinned up at her stupidly, trying to stagger to his feet in a way that prompted Kagome to move to his side and help him to stand.

“I followed my nose,” she murmured softly with a chuckle. “Looks like you found a way to keep yourself busy while I was gone.”

“Mmmm...you smell nice...a little wolfy, but I’ll help you wash it off,” he replied, sticking his nose in the crook of her neck. It was her turn to resist the urge to roll her eyes as she ‘helped’ him over towards, and then out of, the door.

Inuyasha kept up the routine until they rounded the corner and were no longer in view of the bar, and then laughing, he stopped leaning on Kagome for support as the two continued to walk home.

“Sorry ‘bout that, but with you walking in right then I just couldn’t resist. It was perfect timing. I was actually starting to wonder how to go about looking appropriately wasted without being too wasted to walk home, so I’m glad you decided to track me down,” Inuyasha stated then as they headed down the street towards their apartment.

“I think I must have sensed it that you wanted me to come to you, that bond thingy between us acting up again,” Kagome explained as they rounded a corner.

At first when she’d gotten home and had discovered Inuyasha wasn’t there she hadn’t cared, knowing he’d show up whenever he showed up and not really worrying about it. He was a big boy and could take care of himself. But then suddenly, she’d just felt like she’d better go track him down, not as if he were actually in any danger but rather, just like she’d said, it was as if she could just somehow sense it that he’d wanted her with him. Actually tracking him down had been easy; their bond had told her the general area of town where he was located and then once she’d known she was close she had literally used her nose.

“The longer we’re together the stronger that bond will get, too, until we can sense each other over great distances and instantly know it if the other person is in danger, even several hundred miles apart,” Inuyasha explained as he walked beside his girlfriend.

“Well but that’s also what our _phones_ are for,” Kagome pointed out then, the 21st century girl in her thinking it a much better solution to just _call_ the other person if they were separated but for some reason feared that the shit was about to hit the fan.

If there was no time to grab the phone that was one thing, if trouble had come out of nowhere, but calling each other at that first sinking suspicion that something was about to happen was definitely better than trying to shrug that feeling off until it was too late.

“True, true,” Inuyasha agreed as they turned on to their street. He and Kagome always had their prepaid cell phones on them at all times, with each other’s phone being number one on their speed dial.

Kagome didn’t really worry about Inuyasha getting into any fights with other vampires or something on the nights he traveled into the big cities alone, since such a scenario was admittedly very unlikely, and even if some punky vampire idiot _did_ try to get into a pissing contest with Inuyasha, the older vampire would win in a heartbeat, but it never hurt to err on the side of caution, just in case.

If it ever turned out that an even older, _more_ powerful vampire than Inuyasha wanted him gone, he’d just comply and move on to a different neighborhood without a fight. The big cities were plenty large enough for hundreds of vampires to share and so it just wasn’t worth getting in an altercation over a specific city block. Not now that he had more than just himself to think about. After all, what would happen to Kagome if he were no longer there to protect her? No...Inuyasha was always careful to avoid any _real_ fights, only joining the human street fights for a fast buck from time to time because for him those were just harmless fun.

If, however, Inuyasha ever _did_ somehow find himself in a jam while out by himself, Kagome would be able to run to his rescue despite him having taken the only car. When push came to shove, a vampire in full-demon mode could run much faster than freeway traffic. They drove instead of running on their regular commutes because why needlessly overexert themselves or risk some human somewhere seeing something they shouldn’t? In an emergency, though, Kagome wouldn’t care who might see her. Worst case scenario, somebody’s blurry cell phone video might wind up on YouTube and then a TV program like Fact or Faked; a small price to pay to save Inuyasha’s life. It would probably still take her over an hour to get to him, but she knew from personal experience that he could actually hold his own pretty well in a fight. He didn’t go down easily.

Adopting a wicked smirk at that thought that her boyfriend did not see as she walked ahead of him to unlock the front door to their apartment, Kagome entered first and waited by the door for Inuyasha to go in after her, shamelessly checking out his ass in his tight jeans as he passed. Locking the door behind them, she suddenly lurched forward and tackled him to the ground.

“What the-” he started to protest before being silenced by a powerful kiss.

Pulling back after a moment, Kagome clicked her tongue disapprovingly against the roof of her mouth as she gazed down at her boyfriend lying prone below her with a teasing glint in her eyes, her legs straddling either side of his waist with her denim-covered nether region resting snugly against his own.

“I dunno...are you sure you’re not drunk?” she teased. “I think maybe you’ve discovered that enough alcohol can affect even your reflexes. That was _way_ too easy,” she chastised playfully.

Smirking up at her, he gave his hips a little thrust, his rapidly hardening cock making its presence known.

“I may be a lot of things, but _easy_ is not one of them.”

“We’ll see about that,” Kagome smirked, leaning down and capturing his lips in another dominating kiss. The kind of kiss one could engage in when neither person involved needed to worry about breaking apart for air.

Even though he had no intention of breaking the kiss, Inuyasha did not remain content to lie submissively on his back, and fisting the back of Kagome’s head he kicked and swung his legs enough to roll them both over. She didn’t protest, at first, reaching up to fist the back of his head as well although she only continued to kiss him senseless, while being kissed senseless by him in return. After a couple of minutes, though, she was no longer content to let the duel between them remain solely between their tongues, and struggling for a moment as he fought against her resistance she finally managed to roll them both over again.

Hands roamed bodies, clothing was removed, fangs came out to play and arms and torsos became littered with bite marks. Kagome ended up on the bottom again, arching her back with a loud moan escaping her lips as Inuyasha sucked hard on her left nipple, giving it a teasing nibble while being careful not to break the skin at least in such a delicate area. He knew Kagome would get him back if he did. He’d learned _that_ lesson the hard way.

Switching to the other breast, he greedily laved it with his tongue, thoroughly enjoying her taste. No longer did the stink of wolf taint her beauty, and he never tired of running his tongue _all_ over her body.

“Inuyasha!” she gasped out as he expertly brushed the tips of his fangs across her pebbled nipple without drawing blood.

“Yeah...say my name. You’ll be screaming it,” he murmured proudly, half to himself, as he traveled lower, dragging his tongue further and further down her body.

Reaching her glistening womanhood, he inhaled deeply, reveling in her scent. She was already dripping wet with excitement and he hadn’t even touched her there yet. His throbbing erection protested the delay but he told that part of his body to shut it as he proceeded to dive face first between her legs, every gasp and moan of pleasure escaping his woman causing his pride, and dick, to swell even more. It wasn’t long before she was clawing at his back, fisting his hair, arching her back and screaming his name. Smirking against her snatch, he rode out her turbulence, refusing to budge once she started trying to shove him away.

“Enough!” she cried out, half panting, half gasping, but he still wouldn’t stop.

Kagome tried to kick him in the head with her right foot but he caught her leg with his left hand and pinned it down, holding her open even wider as he pulled back but only enough to instantly shove three fingers up inside her, causing her to cry out yet again, tears pooling in her eyes as her body convulsed in painful pleasure, her juices coating his hand. He knew he’d be in for it, but at the moment he didn’t care, the exquisite look of torture on her face too sweet to resist. Besides, she’d started this little romp, and by now she knew from personal experience where antagonizing his inner demon got her. Underneath him, sweaty and delirious.

Unable to think clearly until her second orgasm finally ended, Kagome then growled low in an impressive facsimile of the canine she’d once been, and immediately took advantage of Inuyasha not having a free hand to hook her left leg up and around his neck, twisting and arching her back in a way that dislodged his hold on her so that the older demon suddenly found himself lying on his back with Kagome on her side, both of her thighs tightly clamped around his neck as they formed a letter T on the floor.

“My turn,” she purred with an evil promise in her voice before quickly releasing him and changing her position before he could make a reach for her.

Perhaps he would blame it on the whiskey, after all, or maybe it had been Kagome’s own essence that’d made him drunk, but in either case Inuyasha’s reflexes seemed slower than normal in that moment – or maybe he just didn’t give resisting her his all because he knew it’d be much more pleasurable for him in the long run to just let her have her way with him. At any rate, before it seemed he even had time to register the lack of pressure around his throat as she released her sexy choke hold, he suddenly shouted out “Fucking...gah!” as her hot, tight mouth closed down around his dick.

Somehow finding the strength to raise his head and look down the length of his body to where she was bobbing her head up and down over his groin, the wicked gleam in her glowing red eyes as she looked up to lock gazes with him told Inuyasha that he’d better lie good and still if he knew what was best for him. She grinned, her fangs flashing, as she dragged her tongue slowly up one side of his shaft and down the other, and he shuddered, muttering quiet curses to himself.

He wanted to thrust his hips, he wanted to squirm and wiggle and writhe below her, but biting his lower lip to the point of drawing blood Inuyasha clinched his fists at his sides and held as still as possible, the repeated press of fang tips against his sensitive mushroom head the only warning he needed to realize what a mistake moving would be.

Unlike how he’d rapidly brought Kagome to climax and then forced her to stay there, his bitch did the opposite to him once it was her turn to play, knowing what tortured her lover the best. She brought him right to the edge and then kept him suspended, never letting him fall, never letting him find release. The closer he came to _coming,_ the slower she went, until there was only one lingering, tattered thread of his pride remaining that kept him from actually begging her to let him reach completion. She always seemed to know just when that last thread was about to snap, too, and that was when she pulled away from him altogether.

His eyes, which had gone back to yellow at some point, flashed back to red again in that moment, as he snarled with his own version of a growl that honestly sounded more like an aggravated man than a demon.

“You _bitch!”_ he hollered, tackling her to the ground and slamming his cock deep inside her pussy all in one fluid motion.

Pinching her eyes tightly closed at the blissful sensation, they were blue again when she reopened them, her fangless mouth smirking her satisfaction.

Inuyasha laughed, feeling purely and truly happy, and leaning down to kiss her with his own fangless mouth the look in his golden yellow eyes betrayed the love he felt for this woman. How had he survived over three centuries without her? What had he done _right_ in that time that the gods had deemed him worthy of such a treasured gift? And she was all his, now and forever.

“Who’s your daddy?” he teased, earning an eye roll from the woman below him, which only had him laughing again.

Some vampires might consider the ones they sired to be their ‘children’, but it was also true that most vampires sired their lovers, as well. At least whenever it was a life-long partnership, as theirs was. Hell, he’d even marry the girl in a human ceremony for all the world to see if that was what she wanted. He’d have to discuss that with her, but not just yet. They were a little preoccupied in that moment, after all.

At that thought he immediately increased his tempo, pounding into her with reckless abandon. The walls of their living room echoed loudly with the sound of flesh slapping flesh, the rhythmic percussion the only sound in the room for several minutes until that beat was disrupted by the muffled ringing of Kagome’s cell phone, which was still in the pocket of her discarded blue jeans, wherever _those_ had ended up.

“Can’t come to the phone right now, we’re too busy having wild, crazy vampire sex,” Inuyasha joked as he continued to pound his girlfriend into the carpet, his tempo as steady as ever.

“Beep,” Kagome added with a chuckle.

Her laughter caused her inner muscles to clasp more tightly around his cock, and groaning, Inuyasha reached for and pinned Kagome’s hands above her head.

“Do that again,” he whispered seductively in her ear, and Kagome knew exactly what he was talking about as she deliberately squeezed her inner muscles in that moment, once again making it feel to him as though every thrust was her first.

“Fuck...ing...bitch...you...feel...so...damn...good...” he grunted out in time with his thrusts, shifting his hips to make sure he hit her g-spot with every stroke.

“So...do...you...” Kagome managed to reply, her breasts bouncing in a hypnotic way Inuyasha could have admired all night were it not for the fact that he quickly began to feel that telltale tingling in his balls.

“F-fucking h-hell...” he stuttered as he panted, and as his eyes flashed back to red again Kagome knew he was about to explode.

He _roared_ his release, his fangs growing large as he snarled and viciously clamped down onto her throat, the added stimulation of both his fangs in her neck as well as his seed shooting up inside of her enough to push Kagome over the edge a third time as well.

She screamed, and not because his fangs in her neck were painful. Far from it; because he was her sire it was actually a rather erotic experience for the both of them whenever he bit her in such a manner. Vampires could drink each other’s blood, although it didn’t really do them any good nutritionally, but at least he no longer had to resist the urge to bite her for fear of causing her harm or drinking in her toxic blood. He relished in the sensation, the taste of her, the feel of his fangs buried as deeply within her flesh as his cock was while his body continued to shudder above her own, electricity traveling up and down his nervous system.

Finally retracting his fangs once his heartbeat went back to some semblance of normal, which for him was practically no beat at all, he kept his mouth over the mark for a moment longer and languidly soothed the wound with his tongue, knowing she’d really let him have it if they accidentally stained the carpet. Their mattress had a few blood stains on it, but that was nothing a new set of sheets couldn’t fix, at least visually, not that they ever had anyone over besides Rin, but that was beside the point.

Waiting until the puncture marks stopped bleeding, he pulled away then, finally lifting himself up and off of her, and then smirking down at her prone form gazing up at him in love and devotion he offered her his hand and hoisted her to her feet.

“If I weren’t immortal I’d say you’ll be the death of me, but what a way to go,” he told her with a teasing smile, offering her lips a quick and gentle kiss before going about gathering up their discarded clothes while Kagome shamelessly admired the view.

“Oh no, you can’t get away from me that easily,” she teased back, as if death were a means of escape. “You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”

Throwing Kagome her phone so she could check her voicemail from the missed call, he replied, “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

`````````````````````````````

“Hey Kagome, it’s Rin, like you didn’t already know that, duh,” the girl giggled into her phone. “I was just calling to see how dinner with your mom went, ‘cause I’m sure that’s over with by now, but I guess you’re _preoccupied_...” she stressed with a teasing edge to her voice, knowing well how freaky the two vampires could sometimes get for each other. “So don’t worry about calling me back tonight, I think I’m gonna hit the sack. Tell Inuyasha I said hi,” she completed before hanging up.

Heading up the hallway to the bathroom Rin absentmindedly noticed her roommate was sitting in bed with her laptop again. So what else was new? Paying it no mind, she went about her nightly rituals in the bathroom until finally heading back down the hall to her own room a few minutes later.

“Goodnight,” she stated in a friendly tone, poking her head into her roommate’s bedroom for a moment, since the door was open.

“Oh, Rin! I have awesome news!” Becky, her roommate, gushed excitedly, waving her hand in a ‘Come in! Come in!’ gesture.

“Oh yeah?” Rin asked, eager to hear what had her friend and roommate so elated as she entered the room and plopped down on the edge of the bed. “What is it?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with a ‘Don’t leave me hanging, girl!’ look in them.

“Victor says he wants to meet me in person!” Becky continued, just as ecstatic as ever, although Rin’s mood immediately soured at the news.

“Victor as in online-Victor? Whom you know absolutely nothing about?” she questioned, sounding more like a chastising mother than an excited girlfriend.

Becky merely rolled her eyes.

“I do too know a lot about him. I’ve known him for over two months now and he’s told me everything!” she defended.

It was Rin’s turn to roll her eyes.

“You’ve known the persona he’s portrayed to you for over two months,” she countered, tired of repeating the same old argument.

“Come _on_ , Rin, this isn’t the ‘90s!” Becky stressed, just as tired of the argument as her roommate was. “One in five relationships start online!” she defended, quoting the statistic of an online dating site commercial.

But she and her ‘boyfriend’ Victor had not actually met on an official online dating site, where one could hope there was at least _some_ sort of screening process involved. They’d met in a chat room.

“Besides, any guy you meet in a bar or whatever could just as easily tell you a bunch of lies, so why does living in another state automatically make the guy less trust worthy, hmm?” Becky questioned then, making a valid point.

They’d already video chatted a few times, so it wasn’t as if he were secretly some old creeper who’d sent her fake photos he’d gotten off of a model’s profile. That was the real him, and he was actually _really_ good looking. There was zero doubt in Becky’s mind that he was the man of her dreams.

“I’m still not so sure that meeting the guy in person is a good idea,” Rin continued with a worried tone. “You don’t _really_ know anything about him. Two months isn’t enough time to get to know anybody super well, regardless. There’s bound to be things he hasn’t told you yet.”

Rin knew that was true, since she was actually the one keeping secrets in their relationship. She’d actually known her roommate Becky for over six months now, but the girl still knew nothing of the camping incident when she was eight _or_ Inuyasha’s attack on her last Halloween.

“Then all the more reason why I need to _meet_ him, so that I can _get_ to know him,” Becky countered, refusing to back down.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Rin had a very bad feeling about this, for some reason, even though she wanted to tell herself she was being silly and paranoid. “Just make sure you meet in a very public place, in the middle of the day.”

She wasn’t sure why she’d added that last part, although the look Becky was now suddenly sporting caused the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach to get even worse.

“Well...he actually said his flight’s scheduled to land late tomorrow evening, and that he can’t wait another day to see me so he wants to meet tomorrow night. I already told him yes.”

Rin jumped to her feet, standing in front of her friend with an exasperated look on her face.

“Tomorrow?!” she shrieked. “And just when did he first tell you he wanted to meet with you, just right now, right?” Rin already knew that was true from how excited Becky had been; clearly she would’ve told Rin whenever she’d first heard the news herself.

It was Becky’s turn to bite her lower lip as she slowly nodded in the affirmative, hating it whenever Rin got that passionately upset about something although it thankfully wasn’t a very regular occurrence.

“So he just sprung it on you just like that? Hey, I wanna meet you in person, and oh by the way I already bought a plane ticket and I’ll be there tomorrow night?!”

“Rin, calm down, you’re making a big deal out of nothing...” Becky tried to sooth.

“So suddenly it’s nothing? A minute ago you were about to explode from sheer happiness.”

“Well that was before you went all paranoid overprotective mother on me. I wanted to find a roommate to rent an apartment with because I wanted to get _away_ from my mother.”

Sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose as she closed her eyes, Rin silently counted to five in her head and then met Becky’s gaze with a pleading look in her chocolate brown orbs.

“Becky, just think for a moment, all right? Something just isn’t right here. What if you would’ve said no? Then he’d be out however many hundreds of dollars he’d spent on that last minute plane ticket? Why would he risk that? And if it was so spur of the moment then why not just ask you first before actually buying the ticket, just in case you _did_ say no? But if he’d planned this more in advance then why wait till the last minute to tell you? So that you would be guilted into the meeting, that’s why. You’d feel too guilty to tell him no after realizing he’d already planned the whole thing as some grand gesture to surprise you.”

“Well lucky for him I don’t feel guilty and I actually _want_ to meet him tomorrow night,” Becky stated defiantly, absolutely convinced that her online boyfriend could do no wrong. She was really starting to get irked at Rin’s not-so-subtle accusations regarding her lack of intelligence in this matter.

“What if he’s not even flying in and has been stalking you for weeks now? What if he’s already in town? Are you driving into the big city to meet him at the airport?” Rin asked then.

“Like I’m gonna to tell you where I’m meeting him, _you’ll_ probably stalk me if I do and come up with some way to interfere. You’re just jealous ‘cause I _have_ a boyfriend and you _don’t!”_

Rin got the distinct impression that Becky would have stormed out of the room at that last line were it not for the fact that she was actually standing in Becky’s bedroom at the moment, the fuming girl in question still sitting up against the headboard of her bed with her laptop actually in her lap, her eyes narrowed angrily as she gave Rin a hard glare that the other girl could easily tell was meant to be the silent command to _get out_.

Choosing not to dignify her last remark with a comeback, mostly because she was busy trying to convince herself that it wasn’t true and that she wasn’t jealous, not even just a little, baby bit, Rin turned and exited her roommate’s room in that moment, wordlessly heading down the hall to her own bedroom and closing the door in a calm, quiet manner, even though what she wanted to do was slam it closed so hard the molding around the frame would pop off.

Flopping face down onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow for a moment, Rin tried not to cry. She hated fighting with Becky, though granted they didn’t do it often, and this wasn’t really _that_ serious of a fight and she was sure they’d be able to make up and put it behind them without difficulty, but that was only provided that everything actually went _okay_ tomorrow night with Becky meeting her ‘boyfriend’.

The uneasy feeling in the pit of Rin’s stomach just wouldn’t go away, and realizing after a moment that she needed to talk with somebody who wouldn’t automatically think she was overreacting, she reached for where her cellphone sat on her nightstand and redialed the last number she’d called.

“Hey girl, what’s up?” came the blessed reply after the second ring.

“Oh, Kagome, I’m _so_ glad you answered...”

`````````````````````````````

Heading into an area of town that was known among his people as a ‘wolf-burb’, which was any suburban neighborhood that housed a local werewolf population, of which there were many scattered throughout the mountainous regions of the United States, a tall, platinum blond vampire of over four hundred years strolled down the deserted streets of the small city with all the confidence of someone who literally owned the entire neighborhood. He knew he did not, of course, although that did not alter his right to be there.

It was...unfortunate...that there were so many canines present in this particular town, but so long as the wolves left him alone then he would do they same; they were not his target. Should the wolves prove stupid enough to challenge him, however, then he supposed it wouldn’t hurt anything to rid the world of the pesky things. Even the entire pack together would be no match for him; he could fell them all before they even had a chance to finish shape-shifting.

Even so, the centuries old vampire turned in that moment, heading down the sidewalk of a main street _away_ from the mountains, traveling farther and farther away from the wolves’ boundary. A fight with them would be distracting; he was a man on a mission. It was only a matter of time before the FBI was led to his location, he knew, and they would undoubtedly contact the local police authorities at that time as well, which would make his job more cumbersome than he’d prefer.

Secretly monitoring the humans’ progress with this ‘issue’ courtesy of a few well placed friends on the inside, he knew what they knew, or rather, he knew what they _thought_ they knew, that a ‘mentally unstable individual with vampiric proclivities’ was wrecking havoc in the tri-state area, preying upon innocent, unsuspecting women from the Internet like a 21st century Jack the Ripper with a supernatural twist. There was one major flaw in their profile, however. The unsub in these serial killings was not _pretending_ to be a vampire.

He had also, until recently, been sticking to the bigger cities, selecting victims that couldn’t possibly have anything in common with one another from entirely different parts of society. In fact, the victims seemingly only had one thing in common: their murderer. Though how he’d selected them had remained a mystery to the humans until the FBI had finally made the connection, cracking the case as it were when it had been discovered that every single victim had very recently made plans to meet in person for the first time their online boyfriend. Going through the victims’ computers had revealed e-mail conversations stored on each, and although the e-mail address and registry information for each ‘boyfriend’ had been completely different, and had led the FBI on a wild goose chase at first until discovering they were all aliases, it was clear to them now that they were in fact all the same man, and their killer.

The time stamps on the conversations also revealed that he juggled his targets, maintaining fake ‘relationships’ with multiple victims at the same time and then killing them one by one after he could get each girl to agree to meet with him. They were like livestock to him, and he kept them fed emotionally until it was time to select one to be taken to the slaughterhouse.

Unfortunately for the FBI, because the unsub used a completely different e-mail account and IP address for each of his personae, there was no way to monitor his current online activity, or find out who his next victim was going to be. They were trying everything, including combing through security footage at local libraries where they knew he logged on at least some of the time, but so far they had been unable to identify him.

The four-hundred-year-old vampire smirked, his raised upper lip revealing the tips of his fangs as his eyes flashed briefly to red before going back to golden yellow. Yes...it was unfortunate indeed, for the humans, but it made _his_ job all the easier, giving him the perfect opportunity to strike without police interference. Heaven forbid the human authorities actually be allowed to get their hands on one of them.

Not that Heaven actually had anything to do with it, and they could never actually hope to successfully capture such a creature, but it was bad enough that warnings about the so-called ‘Cyber Dracula’ were about to be plastered all over the news; a bunch of murdered police officers and FBI agents was _not_ something their people could afford to be associated with.

Humans, on a broad, species-wide level, could _not_ be made aware of the fact that demons such as them truly existed. It would plunge society back into the dark ages, and he for one was glad that the witch trials were over and done with.

Taking in several deep breaths as he traveled, knowing well the scent he was looking for and feeling bound and determined to find its source before anyone else did, Sesshoumaru paused in surprise as another, wholly unexpected but instantly recognizable scent also reached his nose.

“Such a small world,” he mused to himself, deciding the diplomatic thing to do in this case would be to make introductions.

`````````````````````````````

Sighing, Inuyasha adjusted the hood on his jacket, his waist-length silver-white hair tucked out of sight so as not to needlessly startle any late night stragglers, even though at that hour the streets were fairly well deserted. He thought about going back to the bar, as they would still be open for another hour or so, but quickly decided against it, realizing it would be too unrealistic for him to have ‘recovered’ so quickly, and so he turned down a different street instead, heading away from his usual playground.

After Rin had called Kagome back, sounding so frantic over the phone that the vampiress had immediately switched over into ‘caring BFF mode’, trying to make sense of the human girl’s whispered words through her sobs, Inuyasha had decided to give the two some ‘girl time’ and head back out by himself for a while. Clearly Rin was trying to speak quietly so as not to alert her roommate to the fact that she was presently on the phone talking about her, but as such Inuyasha hadn’t really been able to make out Rin’s muffled words, either. Something about her and her roommate having gotten into a fight about Becky’s boyfriend, or something.

He’d gotten the gist of it quickly enough from Kagome’s responses, and having immediately been able to tell that whatever the problem was, Kagome had it under control, he’d decided to give his woman some privacy to speak more openly with Rin about the evils of the male gender, murmuring that he’d head out for a while and for her to call him if she needed him.

Kagome had nodded her understanding, her eyes both apologetic for the interruption as well as grateful for his understanding, and then she’d immediately focused her attention solely back on Rin so he’d grabbed his hooded jacket and left.

Feeling a little peckish but doing his best to ignore it, knowing he could wait until his and Kagome’s next big hunt which was scheduled for the night after next, since she had a shift at the diner tomorrow night, Inuyasha decided in that moment to go on patrol. His nose had told him there was another new vampire in town again, although he hadn’t yet met the guy, but so it certainly wouldn’t hurt to just walk up and down every street and leave his scent around for the newbie to detect in return.

He’d first noticed the newcomer’s scent a couple of nights ago, but so far it seemed to be all over the place and difficult to track, almost as if this new vampire was deliberately trying to conceal his location. That seemed odd, but there hadn’t been any tragic deaths in the news lately, or at least not in their local area, and so he’d keep an eye on the situation but not go looking for trouble just yet. Assuming this guy was just passing through, Inuyasha would rather just let him do his thing and leave without a confrontation. One unexplained disappearance here and there didn’t stir the locals up into a blind panic, leaving things peaceful enough for he and Kagome to go about their nightly lives.

All that still really mattered to Kagome as far as the humans went was Rin’s personal safety, and that girl never left wolf territory at night anymore without an escort, so that took care of _that_ problem. Neither he nor Kagome had any real emotional attachments to any of the other local humans and they really only chose never to hunt at home so as not to rock the boat, so to speak, wanting to keep their hometown drama free. Well, that and the fact that Kagome didn’t personally want to feed from the innocent and there weren’t nearly as many criminals in their little city as there were in the much _bigger_ districts, although there were a decent amount of homeless they could theoretically pay to drink from in their hometown that Kagome still chose to leave alone.

In such a small city, she didn’t want to risk any rumors spreading where people might actually recognize them and ultimately come to learn who they were. She’d gotten Inuyasha good, using the expression ‘wolf in the fold’, and although he’d shuddered playfully in disgust to think of _himself_ with the canine term he did have to admit it was an accurate analogy. Right now the local humans had no idea such predators lived among them, and they wanted to keep it that way, otherwise everybody would panic, and Inuyasha liked their quiet, peaceful community just the way it was, real wolves and all.

That was why he did his patrols whenever he detected the scent of a newcomer, spreading his own scent around as a silent message that there was already a vampire presence in town and that somebody else thinking they could take up permanent residency would _not_ be permitted. Not unless they agreed to abide by his and Kagome’s rules, at least.

Turning and heading down another street, a sudden shift in the wind brought the scent of a different newcomer to his nose, and Inuyasha almost tripped over himself in his shock. Scent was the strongest sense tied to memory, and even though it’d been over two hundred and fifty years since he’d last caught a whiff of his ‘older brother’ he wouldn’t be forgetting that scent any time soon.

_What the hell does_ _he_ _want?_ he couldn’t help thinking to himself, wondering what on Earth could have possibly prompted the older ‘son’ of the late Toga Taisho to seek him out.

Figuring there was really only one way to find out, Inuyasha turned in that moment and headed towards the scent of Sesshoumaru. It didn’t take him long to realize that the older vampire was heading right for him, as well, as his scent steadily got stronger and stronger, and then turning another corner he saw him, looking just as pompous as ever with that unreadable expression he was so fond of wearing. Over two centuries had passed, and except for the modern clothes they were both wearing it seemed like nothing had changed.

Well, that wasn’t true. Inuyasha knew _he_ had changed, over the last year, at least.

Deciding then that it would be too rude to say something like ‘what the hell are you doing here’ which might imply Inuyasha actually thought he had the right to keep his late sire’s oldest son out of ‘his and Kagome’s city’, when in reality Inuyasha knew that he didn’t have the power to back up a claim on the city against a vampire _that_ strong, he decided for a somewhat more laid back approach in that moment, figuring it might behoove him to let the older vampire, who’d clearly sought him out, tell him in his own words why he was there.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Inuyasha stated instead, then, keeping both his tone and mannerism docile.

Sesshoumaru inclined his head the slightest degree in acknowledgment and agreement of his younger ‘sibling’s’ statement.

“Indeed.”

Inuyasha resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

So okay, they’d never really gotten along all that well, but they hadn’t really been _enemies_ , either. Inuyasha could carry on a conversation with him, no matter how stuck-up the bastard wanted to act; he wouldn’t let Sesshoumaru piss him off. Even though Sesshoumaru was the more powerful of the two of them it was still _his_ city...sort of...but that actually _did_ give Inuyasha a bit of a leg to stand on, even if he’d never officially challenge Sesshoumaru for fear of losing. Didn’t mean the older vampire had to know that. There was a difference between fear and respect, after all. He might fear _losing_ to Sesshoumaru, but he didn’t actually fear _Sesshoumaru_ , and he never would.

He did, however, respect him.

“Been a long time.”

Again the older vampire nodded his agreement, stating, “Yes, it has.”

Thankfully, Sesshoumaru must have sensed how close Inuyasha was coming to doing some kind of nervous, fidgety move with his body language, the type of unconscious gestures one did in situations where they had absolutely _no_ idea what to say or do next and it was rapidly becoming a highly _awkward_ situation. They just hadn’t been close enough for Inuyasha to want to gush with all that typical ‘How have you been?!’ kind of gibberish. Honestly, he didn’t care. And likewise, neither did Sesshoumaru truthfully care about whatever it was Inuyasha had been doing with himself lately, although the older vampire deduced based on scent that for at least the last several months or so he had apparently been residing there, in that small city, and it was also blatantly obvious thanks to his present odor that he had a female.

Assuming Inuyasha had actually made a ‘home’ for himself within this wolf-burb, although why anyone would want to do something like _that_ was beyond him, Sesshoumaru still knew that it was therefore within Inuyasha’s rights to know why he was there, and that for propriety’s sake, he needed to be forthcoming.

“I was unaware until moments prior that you resided within this small city, but do not worry, I am not here to lay claim to your territory,” he told his sire’s ‘second son’ in that moment. “I am merely here on business, and will leave you and your female in peace once that business has been concluded.”

Inuyasha lifted an eyebrow in silent intrigue, but Sesshoumaru was already continuing.

“There have been a number of unconcealed deaths as of late, the handiwork of one individual, relatively juvenile vampire, who needs to be made aware of the fact that his actions are putting us all at risk. It is unknown what may or may not have become of the one who turned him, but it is clear that he lacks, and is in need of, guidance. A group of elders, myself included, have recently, throughout the course of the last century, taken it upon ourselves to maintain the balance in our region, keeping the younger ones in line, and so after learning of this particular youth’s hunting pattern I immediately decided to...have a talk with him.”

“Heh, I guess even us demons need a police force in this day and age,” Inuyasha mused.

“Indeed. This rebel is not concealing his kills, leaving drained female victims in plain sight for the _human_ police to find, duel puncture wounds on their necks the only visible signs of trauma.”

“Shit...” Inuyasha cursed, knowing well how serious this situation could actually get. “How stupid is this guy? I mean, that’s like Vampire 101. This ain’t the middle ages no more, conceal your fucking kills.”

“Precisely why this individual must be made to see the error of his ways, or be dealt with. His feeding habits cannot be allowed to continue, or it is only a matter of time before the human authorities catch up with him, and at that time they will learn through most likely quite unfortunate means that he is not merely some deranged human suffering from porphyria.”

“And he’s coming here next?” Inuyasha asked then.

“He has already arrived. After one of my contacts in the FBI first brought these killings to my attention I immediately began tracking him, and I have just arrived within your borders this hour. I have been steadily closing the gap between us ever since I began my hunt, and was approximately two days behind my prey when I started out from the scene of his latest kill. Standing here now, I know for a fact that he is here, as well, therefore this is clearly the hometown of his next chosen victim, and my opportunity to strike.”

Closing his eyes, Sesshoumaru took a deep breath through his nose, and then opening his eyes back up he met Inuyasha’s gaze and added confidently, “He is trying to conceal his location by leaving multiple scent trails, a tactic he has used during his last three killings, perhaps aware that I am in pursuit, but regardless of his efforts I _will_ find him.”

Inuyasha listened, nodding his understanding, but one thing stuck out as odd.

“Wait a minute...you have contacts in the FBI? How does _that_ work?”

Sesshoumaru smirked at the question, his eyes flashing with wicked amusement, as though he were quite pleased with himself and his accomplishments.

“They are human, if that is what you are wondering, but you would be amazed to learn what the right amount, and types, of coercion can accomplish.”

“So did you threaten them or bribe them?” Inuyasha asked, now amused as well.

Sesshoumaru merely shrugged.

“Sometimes both, depending upon the circumstances.”

Inuyasha chuckled a little at that, shaking his head at the wonder of it all.

_Here I was, living among the homeless without even a fake ID to my name until Kagome came along, and Mr. Big Shot over here has buddies in the FBI...figures..._

Shrugging it off after a moment, Inuyasha knew there was no point dwelling on the past. Their decision to go their separate ways and not stay in contact after their sire’s death had been mutual, for sure.

“So this idiot, he’s already in town, and the feds know it and are on their way here too?” he asked for clarification then.

Sesshoumaru shook his head, stating, “They are still attempting to identify him, and while my contact within the FBI knows what he is, what I am, and that I am also in pursuit, he also knows that I will not share with him my progress or information.”

“Guess that makes sense,” Inuyasha agreed to Sesshoumaru’s one-way-street of information with his contact. “The whole point is so that you can get to him _before_ the human authorities do, so giving them a lead on the case wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Precisely. Intervention by the human authorities must be avoided at all costs. This is a matter between vampires.”

“Yeah,” Inuyasha agreed, shaking his head at the vision such a thought conjured up. “That’s all Kagome and I need, some fucking shootout in our own backyard as this guy goes even more nuts than he already is and vamps out in front of the cops. Best case scenario, he’d flee at the first ‘Freeze!’ and they have no idea who or what he was, but that’d only prolong the problem. Worst case he attacks, red-eyed and fangs bared, and the cops learn that even emptying twenty rounds in the chest ain’t enough to take one of us out.”

“Correction, the worst case scenario would be that while they are learning their bullets have no effect they are quickly slaughtered one by one, but one of them has a chance, before he or she dies, to radio in what they are witnessing, and _then_ the vampire flees, leaving his massacre behind for the investigators to analyze, with dashboard and body camera videos intact to document the entire incident.”

Inuyasha groaned, bowing his head and pinching his nose with eyes closed as though to ward off an oncoming headache.

“You’re right, that’d be fucked,” he acknowledged. “For all of us.” Raising his head and meeting Sesshoumaru’s eyes he asked, “Do you need my help tracking this bastard?”

“No, I only require that I be allowed to work unhindered.” Thinking about it for a moment, Sesshoumaru added, “However, I was mildly disconcerted to realize the residential neighborhood against the local foothills harbors a substantial werewolf community, so if any of them decide to become a nuisance I would in fact appreciate it if you could take care of them so that I can remain focused on my task. Other than that I will require no direct assistance from you or anyone else.”

It was Inuyasha’s turn to smirk, a reaction Sesshoumaru mistook for the slightly younger vampire’s eagerness to play dogcatcher until his next words threw him for a loop.

“Keh, no worries there. It’s kind of a long story and I doubt you care about the details, but let’s just say my woman and me, we actually know the local wolves, and they ain’t no trouble. We’ve got a truce going between us, but I’ll definitely make sure Kagome lets ‘em know what’s going on so that if you end up needing to get close or even _within_ their borders to hunt this other guy down they’ll leave you alone.”

Sesshoumaru inclined his head in gratitude at that, his pride barely preventing him from inquiring about the details he refused to acknowledge he was actually interested in learning. Trying to convince himself that he simply did not care _what_ Inuyasha did with his life couldn’t quite snuff out his curiosity to know just how it was possible that he and his female had managed to develop such a truce with the wolves, or why Inuyasha would have even bothered to do so in the first place when there were plenty of other small towns one could choose to call home that did _not_ share a zip code with a wolf den.

Regardless of how their truce had come to be, though, Sesshoumaru was still grateful to learn that the wolves would apparently not be an issue, after all, even if while tracking his prey it took him closer to their territory. Perhaps befriending them had _not_ been a bad idea, Sesshoumaru mused then, if it allowed Inuyasha free reign within the small city without the worry of an attack. It never hurt to have allies in unusual places; Sesshoumaru knew that first hand.

Parting ways after Inuyasha told Sesshoumaru the directions to his place as well as his phone number, just in case he needed to get in contact with him for whatever reason, Inuyasha made a beeline back to his and Kagome’s apartment, realizing that that other newcomer he’d scented for the last couple of nights obviously had to be the asshole Sesshoumaru was presently hunting. Even though Sesshoumaru had declined his offer of more direct assistance, the older vampire had still given him a phone number he could use to contact him, as well, just in case Inuyasha happened to inadvertently stumble upon this other vampire’s location while out and about.

Sesshoumaru might not need Inuyasha actively searching, but that didn’t mean he was too proud to accept a call of ‘Hey, here he is over here!’ if the younger vampire just _happened_ to come upon him.

Nodding to himself in determination, Inuyasha decided in that moment that he would respect Sesshoumaru’s wishes and not go combing every nook and cranny looking for the guy, but he would definitely keep his nose open, just in case. He also wished Sesshoumaru had told him more about how this guy apparently went about choosing his victims, since the older vampire had said something in passing about how their city must be the hometown of his newest chosen victim since he had remained stationary in that town for the last two nights, but Inuyasha knew he couldn’t fully blame Sesshoumaru for not sharing any details he might have learned about how this guy chose his victims because he hadn’t thought to ask at the time, either.

Did the guy pick the city first, like how a human fishing in a boat on a lake found the ‘perfect spot’ and then simply waited to get a bite? Or did he actually pick his girls in a different way, like online, choosing them in advance as individuals and then traveling to wherever they lived, as Sesshoumaru’s phrasing had kind of implied?

Either way, he would definitely tell Kagome everything Sesshoumaru had told him and make sure that she called her mother first thing in the morning so that the werewolves could be made aware of the situation and not interfere with Sesshoumaru’s hunt. He was also sure she’d want to warn Rin so that the girl could be extra careful and maybe not leave her apartment after dark _at all_ for the next few nights, just in case.

Things were about to get interesting.

`````````````````````````````

As Becky tried on different outfits in front of her mirror, Rin worried her lower lip from her place waiting out in the living room, trying to think of what to say. They hadn’t really spoken much that day, although Rin _had_ apologized to Becky first thing in the morning, conceding to her roommate’s point that she was not her mother and that she had no right to tell her roommate what she could or couldn’t do.

“I’m just worried about you is all, ‘cause there are a lot of bad people in this world. I don’t want to see you get hurt,” she’d stated after her apologies, as a means of explanation, wishing for Becky to know that she wasn’t _jealous_ but that her disapproval came from a place of fear and love.

Rolling her eyes yet again, Becky had merely proceeded to insist that she was a big girl and that she could take care of herself, although she had also then hugged Rin, ruffling the twenty-two-year-old’s hair while stating that she still thought she was being overly paranoid but also that she supposed the concern was appreciated.

“I guess I’d rather have you care _too_ much than not at all,” she’d conceded.

Now, as Becky prepared for her ‘date’ with Victor, at an as of yet undisclosed location, Rin was racking her brain for something to say, anything, that would get Becky to tell her where they were meeting. She couldn’t just follow Becky because, unfortunately, she didn’t have a car. She always walked or took the bus.

Of course, she still had every intention of following her roommate, but she needed to know where the meeting was taking place so that she could then phone up a taxi and get dropped off nearby. That eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach would just _not_ go away, and so even despite Kagome’s warning to stay indoors because of some new vampire Inuyasha’s sort-of brother was presently hunting, Rin actually felt that the increased risk meant all the more reason why she had to watch out for her roommate’s safety.

At first, during their conversation the night before, Kagome had acknowledged that her paranoia wasn’t really misplaced, and that Becky’s situation could potentially be a disaster in the making, but she’d also acknowledged Becky’s point, in that just because she’d met the guy online it didn’t _automatically_ make him a rapist or serial killer. Kagome had stated that ultimately, it had to be Becky’s decision, and that even if something bad _did_ happen to her, Rin needed to not blame herself, because if she’d expressed her concerns and had made Becky aware of the potential risks and Becky had still chosen to take those risks anyway, then ultimately in the end it was on her.

Of course, that hadn’t really settled Rin’s worries in the slightest, but she supposed Kagome did have a valid point. Unfortunately, she knew that Kagome had to work that night, otherwise she would have been tempted to ask the female vampire to keep an eye on Becky _for_ her, but Rin hadn’t wanted to impose and put Kagome in the awkward position of either needing to tell her no or calling in sick to work, and so when the vampiress had called her back early that morning with the warning to not go out _at all_ because of a dangerous new vampire in town, and that Becky was basically on her own because of the increased risk in the city until Sesshoumaru caught this guy, Rin had kept quiet about her plan to follow Becky into town.

She knew that if she’d said anything to Kagome about actually wanting to follow Becky it would have been the former werewolf’s turn to turn into the overprotective mother, and Rin didn’t want to worry her new best friend. She could take care of herself...she hoped.

Hey, Kagome had warned her, and she was making the decision to go out anyway, so then that meant it was on her, right? Kagome’s logic. Besides, Rin wasn’t really too worried about this other vampire, since from the way Kagome had said Inuyasha’d said his brother had made it sound, the odds were that this guy already had his sights set on whomever his next victim was going to be, and since she hadn’t even been outside of wolf territory for the last few days even during the day, let alone at night, Rin was positive that there was no way it could be her.

She would still bring her silver dagger though, just in case.

One of the best things about being best friends with a couple of vampires was that she’d actually become privy to a few of the insider secrets they normally did _not_ want humans to know. A wooden stake through the heart, while cliché, was a legitimate way to kill them. Something to do with nature coming into contact with something so unnatural, like a matter/anti-matter explosion type thing or something, her more sci-fi than horror mind had decided to explain it to herself. But even so, who the hell could actually plunge a sharpened shovel handle straight through bone and into the heart?

Buffy she was not, and Rin had also learned that, traditionally, the stake was actually _hammered_ in as a means of killing a vampire that had already been weakened and captured. Silver, on the other hand, while not necessarily deadly to a vampire unless in high enough quantities, was a toxin, and any wounds made from a silver blade would be very painful and would take hours longer than normal to heal, weakening the vampire tremendously. Realistically, she knew she had about as much of a chance of fighting off a vampire with a silver dagger as she would any normal, strong man with a regular dagger, but at least it was a chance.

“Go for the throat,” Kagome had told her when first presenting her with the gift.

A nice good slash across the jugular would definitely have an attacking vampire backing off right away. Even if the wound wasn’t deep enough to kill the vampire outright he’d almost definitely run off to hide somewhere and recuperate, not chancing a second strike. Either way it would save her life, even if she hadn’t cut deep enough to dust him.

“How do I look?” Becky asked as she stepped out into the living room, effectively pulling Rin from her wandering thoughts.

“Like Victor is one lucky man,” she stated with a grin and waggle of her eyebrows, which thankfully earned a giggle from her roommate as Becky turned around a few times and flipped her hair in self-indulgence.

“I know, right?” she asked with a laugh, before turning a tad more serious. With a warm smile she added, “Thanks for chilling out about it.”

It was the perfect opening, and Rin jumped at the opportunity.

“No problem. Can I know where you’re actually going, now? Ya know, so I know where to send the police to look for your body after you don’t come back home,” she stated with a giggle and a playful wink, hoping to portray that she wasn’t really serious and was making fun of the way she’d acted the night before.

Becky, apparently conceding to herself that it probably actually _would_ be a good thing if Rin knew where she was going... _just in case_...although she knew nothing bad was going to happen and that Victor would be the perfect gentleman, told her in that moment, “We’re just meeting at the mall food court, girl, relax.” Smiling, she adopted a jokingly snarky tone and added, “See, I’m not _stupid_ , we _are_ meeting at a public place.”

Rin immediately felt tremendously relieved, although she tried not to let it show since that would betray the fact that she’d actually still been worried about it.

“Well, have fun. Call if you’re gonna crash for the night in his hotel room.”

“Rin!” Becky gasped as if scandalized, although the giggle that was quick to follow revealed that the thought had actually already crossed her mind.

Heading out then with the promise that she’d either be back by midnight or that she would in fact call if she decided to stay the night with Victor instead, Becky was out the door, and reaching for her cell phone in her pocket, Rin headed over to the door and peered out the peephole. Seeing no sign of Becky she immediately dialed the taxi company she’d already picked out and spouted off the address of her apartment building. Grabbing her purse next, where she’d already stashed her dagger, she murmured a quick prayer under her breath that she was doing the right thing and then she was out the door as well, the setting sun representative of the sinking sensation in her stomach.

`````````````````````````````

“Oh my God hi!” Becky squealed in delight as she practically threw herself at Victor when she saw him, glomping him in a bear hug in the middle of the food court, which he eagerly returned as he chuckled playfully.

“I’m happy to see you, too,” he teased, his voice even more charming in real life.

In fact, _everything_ about him was more charming in real life, from his strikingly inky midnight tresses that were styled perfectly at just above shoulder length to his amazingly emerald green eyes that were probably contacts though Becky didn’t care. The resolution of his web cam had _not_ done him justice.

Stating in a teasing tone that he hoped she didn’t mind if ‘mall food’ became the first dinner he ever bought her, but that he was simply _famished_ after his flight and wanted to get something to eat right away, Becky immediately agreed and they quickly found themselves scarfing down burgers and fries while they caught up on all the latest goings on in both of their lives.

She didn’t tell him about how Rin had freaked out about their meeting, of course; she didn’t want to spoil the mood. However, he did already know that she had a roommate, which was honestly the only reason why she had agreed to meet him somewhere rather than just inviting him over to the apartment. Looking back on it, she was tremendously relieved that she had _not_ invited him to their apartment; Rin would have _completely_ flipped out and she probably would have ended up having to write Victor back to sheepishly change their plans.

As it was, she would’ve gladly just met him at his hotel, not sharing Rin’s concerns since _Rin_ wasn’t the one who’d been speaking with Victor for the last two months and she just didn’t _know_ him like she did, but when he’d first told her that he was going to be coming into town and that he wanted to see her right away he’d actually volunteered the idea of meeting at the mall before she’d had the chance to say anything different, and then figuring that he had chosen such a public place on purpose so that she couldn’t possibly get the wrong idea and start to worry, herself, Becky had fallen that much more in love with him.

Obviously, he wasn’t some crazed stalker rapist person, or he wouldn’t have immediately named the mall as their very public meeting place, right? He would’ve _tried_ to get her to go to his hotel, for sure.

Unless it’d been a ploy, and he figured that doing it this way would earn him some of her trust so that he could _then_ try it and she’d be more likely to agree, but you know what...? She _would_ agree to go back to his hotel if he asked, and she didn’t care what Rin might think. Maybe Victor really did have the thought of getting her in bed that night, on their first date, but if so it was only because he was as horny and lonely as she was. If he actually made a move she’d be glad for it, and would eagerly comply. It’d been _so_ _long_ since she’d been with a man; she needed action!

She would not throw herself at him, though.

Thinking back on her recent glomp hug, she blushed and mentally amended, she would not throw herself at him _sexually_.

If he tried to make a move she’d let him know that she was ready and willing, but she wouldn’t risk scaring him off if he was planning on behaving himself. He was one of the good ones, what her mother would call a ‘keeper’, and so while the ball was in his court she’d do it by the book; she didn’t want to screw this one up.

After dinner, Victor asked Becky if she’d like to go for a bit of a walk outside in the cool night air before parting ways for the evening, so that they could have a little bit of peace and quiet without the background hum of shopping mall hustle and bustle. Immediately agreeing, Becky went outside with him, unaware of the chocolate brown eyes that followed the pair’s every move, their look changing from cautiously optimistic to concerned in an instant as they headed away from the parking lot and instead rounded the building, heading back towards the rear loading dock of that end’s anchor store.

“The stars are so beautiful...” he commented absentmindedly, gazing up.

Becky looked up as well, scanning the skies.

“Yeah...I suppose so,” she agreed, thinking that the city lights probably obstructed some of their view, although she could concede that in an even larger city, like where he was from, you could probably hardly see any of the stars at all. She’d been hoping a cheesy pickup line like ‘but not as beautiful as you’ would have followed his comment, but no such luck.

Lowering her gaze to look his way once more, she gasped in sudden, terror-stricken shock, a scream stuck in her throat.

Glowing red eyes burned with a vicious passion as they appeared to gaze deep into her very soul, and then he smiled, the grin sadistic and revealing sharp fangs.

“What’s the matter, baby?” he taunted. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

From her hiding place around the corner, Rin had her answer as to whether or not she needed to dial 911 or Kagome, and quickly, she made the call.

When she’d first arrived at the mall via taxi she’d had the driver take her slowly through the parking lot by the food court entrance until she spotted Becky’s car, and relieved to see the vehicle in question she’d paid her driver and headed inside, in stealth-mode, scanning from a distance for the outfit Becky had been wearing. Spotting her, she had watched for a moment while she and Victor talked, the guy admittedly seeming nice enough on the surface, and knowing that Becky was certainly safe while surrounded by so many mall goers, Rin had slipped back outside before her roommate spotted her, finding a place to wait it out where she could both keep an eye on the door as well as Becky’s car, while at the same time her back was to a wall so that nobody would be able to sneak up on _her_ from behind.

When Victor and Becky had first emerged from the mall, Rin had been sure he was going to walk her to her car. She hadn’t really thought about what to do if he had actually gotten _into_ the car _with_ her, since without her own vehicle Rin obviously wouldn’t have been able to follow right away and would have almost definitely lost track of them, but she’d been hoping that it wouldn’t come to that so that she wouldn’t have to worry. She’d mainly only wanted to be there for her roommate if, say, Becky had been trying to say goodnight and then Victor had suddenly turned forceful, either trying to shove them both inside of her car or drag her away to his own vehicle. Then in _that_ instance Rin would’ve been there to save the day, popping out of hiding with the threat that he’d better let Becky go or else she’d call the police.

If, on the other hand, Becky had voluntarily and happily driven off with the guy, well, then Rin would’ve just tried to hope that everything would be all right and repeat Kagome’s words back to herself, that ultimately it was on Becky and that if something bad _did_ happen, she had nothing to feel guilty about.

That was then and this was now, though. As soon as they’d turned and headed along the side of the building instead of out into the parking lot Rin’s hesitant smile had instantly turned into a frown, and she’d immediately invoked the spirit of a Ninja to stealthily creep up on the pair without alerting either of them to her presence...or so she hoped. Oh God, what if they spotted her? Awkward much? She’d actually almost turned back, suddenly more afraid of her own pending mortification than anything else, but that was when she’d noticed the change.

Rin felt her blood run cold, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, and suddenly, she got the distinct impression that Becky would no longer be mad at her for crashing her ‘date’.

_Shit, and that means there’s no way he doesn’t know I’m here_... she realized in a silent panic, praying Kagome answered her phone before he decided to let her know she’d been spotted.

Victor might be aware of his audience, but Rin was sure there was no way he had any idea who her best friend was, and that was the one Ace up her sleeve she hoped would save both her and Becky’s lives.

_Pick up! Pick up! Pick up!_

“What’s wrong?” Kagome answered suddenly in a hushed, worried tone of voice.

She wasn’t really allowed to have her phone at work but always kept it on her anyway because she never used it, wanting it only for possible emergencies. Kagome knew Rin was aware of her work schedule so there was no way she would’ve called unless it was important. Also knowing that tonight was Becky’s date, Kagome already feared Rin’s call might be related.

“It’s _him!”_ she hissed, knowing Kagome would understand. “Victor’s him! We’re outside behind the mall, _hurry!”_

“Well, well, well...” a man’s voice suddenly said in Rin’s face, earning a squeak from the girl as she dropped her phone in surprise, which he then proceeded to stomp on, smashing it to pieces.

“What do we have here? Two for the price of one?”

Laughing, he turned his head to glance back over his shoulder in Becky’s direction, his ‘date’ standing frozen in fear, staring at them both from across the length of the loading dock in horror with her back pressed up against the rolled down door, nowhere to run.

Rin tried to make a fast grab for the dagger in her purse, but seeing the move and smelling the silver, Victor snarled and reached for both of her wrists with his hands.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, bitch?”

“Becky, Run!” Rin shouted then, and snapping out of her frozen state Becky tried to do just that, hoping she could get past Victor while he was preoccupied with restraining Rin, but not willing to let his ‘date’ escape he quickly hurled the twenty-two-year-old in his grasp away from himself, Rin smacking hard against the side concrete wall of the loading dock to collapse on the ground unmoving, and then just as quickly he reached out and snatched the fleeing Becky as she tried to zip past him.

“Uh-uh-uh...” he playfully chastised. “That isn’t how these things work. I bought you dinner, so now you have to _give_ me some.”

“S-sure...” Becky stuttered, trying to think of whatever might save her life at that point. “I’ll f-fuck you r-right here, l-let’s go.”

She tried to turn her head enough to see if Rin was okay, but Victor quickly clasped her chin with one hand and roughly yanked her face back to meet his eyes, which were still crimson and gave her the chills.

“My my, what a little whore you are, but it isn’t sex I’m after. I told you, I’m _famished,_ ” he stressed, moving in for the kill.

The scream that had been stuck in her throat finally broke free as Becky felt his fangs sink into her neck, although it was muffled by the hand he quickly clasped over her mouth, preventing any mall goers from hearing it. With tears trailing down her cheeks, Becky’s second to last thought as her body went cold was that all the girls out there who had vampire fetishes had to be fucking _crazy_. Her very last thought before darkness claimed her was, _Rin, I’m so sorry_...

Dumping Becky’s unconscious and soon to be dead body on the ground, Victor approached Rin’s prone form, a quiet moan escaping the girl letting him know she was still awake. Good. It wasn’t as much fun when they didn’t reek of fear, although this girl was admittedly a bit of a mystery to him. She smelled of fear, yes, but not as strongly as she should have, especially after all she had just witnessed. Just who was she, and who had she called for ‘help’? And she had a silver dagger in her purse, to boot.

_A wanna-be slayer,_ he thought then, amused by the absurd notion. _How cute_.

No matter, her reinforcements would be no challenge for him. A hundred humans with a hundred silver daggers, a _thousand_ , would never be strong enough to take him out. He was a god.

Crouching down and yanking Rin’s head up by her hair, he smirked as she winced in pain, chocolate brown eyes finally widening in true terror at the sight of his demonic visage.

“Say goodnight, princess,” he purred as he leaned down and bit her neck, a pained gasp leaving her lips.

“Goodnight, princess,” came a condescending, deep timbre from somewhere behind them, causing Victor to immediately release his hold on Rin as he jumped to his feet and spun around in surprise, caught off guard by this man’s ability to sneak up on him.

Of course, no _human_ man would have been able to sneak up on him. Victor took in the image of the fellow vampire standing before him with a calculating eye. He was dressed in a pair of white slacks with matching white suit jacket worn open, with a modern black and red dress shirt underneath and black dress shoes completing the look. The image was made more casual by the lack of a necktie, as well as the vampire’s long, silvery white hair, but it was still far too sophisticated a look for Victor’s tastes, the raven haired vampire greatly preferring his designer jeans and long-sleeved tee.

As Victor blatantly scrutinized him, Sesshoumaru stared back with a bland, disinterested expression, mentally noting the dead girl off to the side as well as the fact that the urchin’s second victim was still alive, quietly moaning as she lied still behind her would-be killer, a hand pressed to her neck in an effort to stanch the bleeding. Fortunately, the wound on Rin’s neck wasn’t bleeding too badly, Victor having barely broken the skin before immediately being startled by Sesshoumaru and jumping away, so he’d missed her carotid.

Not that Sesshoumaru cared in that moment whether she bled out or not. All he cared about was teaching this vagrant the way it was done. Sesshoumaru didn’t care how many women he killed. He didn’t even care if the police still thought there was a serial killer on the loose, making connections between all the girls, so long as he was careful enough to never actually get caught.

All Sesshoumaru really cared about was the fact that this fool was doing nothing to disguise the manner in which his victims had been killed. He already knew, thanks to his contacts, that they had attempted to collect DNA from the women’s necks, with ‘inconclusive’ results as their machines identified ‘unknown’ properties mixed in with what still read as human saliva.

Fortunately, the human authorities presently believed that the readings were a result of the killer having deliberately done something to screw with the DNA evidence to ‘trick’ them into thinking he wasn’t human, something the police and FBI both thought of as foolish and fantasy, but even so, the four-centuries-old vampire knew it was really only a matter of time before this bumbling moppet screwed something else up and left even more evidence behind, like killing in view of a security camera or something. Now that everything had gone digital, their images showed up on cameras just fine.

Sesshoumaru glanced around in that moment as the thought occurred to him, and was immediately relieved to note that _that_ wouldn’t be a problem, at least. No security cameras on this back loading dock, which meant no witnesses. He would attempt to get the younger vampire to listen to reason, of course, but if he could not...

Finally, it was Sesshoumaru who spoke again, breaking the momentary silence.

“You are in violation of a sacred code that has been acknowledged and recognized by our species for generations,” he stated, his tone sounding as though he were placing the younger vampire under arrest.

Victor snorted, crossing his arms defiantly.

“Come off it, old man. We’re _kings_ , screw what the humans think,” he replied. “It isn’t our place to hold their hands and sing them lullabies. We’re _real_ , and they should damn well _know_ it.”

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the youth and his audacity. He was knowingly and deliberately leaving a _message_ for the humans? That was far worse than if his actions had simply been from a lack of realization and comprehension, from a lack of teaching. Where was his sire? To allow their progeny such free reign was unacceptable.

“To make the humans aware of our existence on a global level is to ensure our extinction,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh please,” Victor bemoaned, rolling his eyes as they faded from red to green, his fangs shrinking. “You worry too much. Now get outta here, grampa. I don’t share.”

Unexpectedly, at least from Victor’s point of view, Sesshoumaru smirked wickedly.

“You should learn to respect your elders, _boy_. Your sire should have taught you that mouthing off to your betters is hazardous to your health.”

Victor merely snorted again, finding this stranger’s arrogance quite amusing. As if he were actually powerful enough to take him on. If he could’ve really taken him in a fight then he would’ve done it already, but he was all talk, Victor believed, just like his sire had been.

“That old fool was the first one to go,” he grumbled under his breath, but loud enough for Sesshoumaru to hear.

Sesshoumaru felt something within him snap at that comment. If this vagrant had slain his own sire, and for no other reason than disagreeing with his teachings, then there was clearly no reasoning with him; he was without honor and the time for diplomacy had now ended.

“For failing to adhere to our ways, you shall not be permitted to continue,” he stated then, the silent bang of a judge’s gavel reverberating even in Rin’s ears, as the injured girl half-listened to the vampires’ conversation from her place lying on the asphalt a few feet behind Victor.

And speaking of Victor, he looked nervous for all of two seconds from Sesshoumaru’s words before it morphed into confusion, and then puffing his chest in false bravado he questioned, “So let me get this straight. Because you asked me nicely to stop and I said no, you now forbid it? And I’m just suddenly supposed to comply with your demand after failing to comply with your request?” He shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way.”

Suddenly, before Victor could blink, Sesshoumaru moved through the space between them, instantly appearing directly before the much younger vampire and grabbing him by the throat with his right hand, lifting him a few inches off the ground. Stunned, Victor reached for Sesshoumaru’s hand with both of his own and tried to pry open the fingers that would have been cutting off his air if he’d needed to breathe, but there was no budging them.

“You are correct,” Sesshoumaru stated then, his tone of voice neutral. “It does not work that way, for I did not say that you shall not be permitted to continue _your heinous acts_ , I said you shall not be permitted to _continue_.”

Sesshoumaru gave Victor just enough time for the unspoken ‘existing’ at the end of that sentence to register, and then smirking when his prey’s eyes widened in unbridled terror, Sesshoumaru squeezed and yanked, effortlessly ripping Victor’s throat out. The younger vampire turned to dust in his grasp, creating a small pile of ash in the loading dock that looked like someone had spilt the contents of an urn. He did not know what the test results would be should the humans sample any of it with their modern-day machinery, but he would make sure the mess was thoroughly cleaned with no traces remaining so that it wouldn’t be a concern. Ordinarily such incidental clusters of dust and ash would most likely go completely ignored, eventually blowing away in the wind, but since the police would be combing the area thanks to the dead girl he had no intention of moving, it was better not to take any chances.

Glancing in said dead girl’s direction, then, Sesshoumaru mentally sighed, though ultimately he decided that at that point in time there was no point in disguising her manner of death. The FBI already had a collection of girls with identical M.O.s, so what would it hurt adding one more to the mix?

At least that way her loved ones could have closure, made aware of the fact that she had been murdered by the same serial killer that had killed so many others, so that they would not be made to live with the same horrible unknowns the other, injured girl’s family would now have to face, never knowing what had become of her.

He’d heard the younger vampire’s comment about two for the price of one, and correctly presumed that this other girl had stumbled upon the scene, the deceased one having been his original target and the one who would undoubtedly have e-mails on her home computer providing her connection to the killer. A killer who will henceforth have mysteriously disappeared after this latest slaughter, never to be caught or identified. As was the case with most cold cases of that nature, Sesshoumaru knew the human authorities would ultimately come to assume that the killer had most likely either been killed himself or arrested on alternate charges, but either way, it was not his concern.

Sesshoumaru also did not know if the two girls had known each other or not, although even if they did, that connection would not change his mind regarding what needed to be done, seeing as one could assume easily enough that the killer’s disappearance and the girl’s disappearance were somehow at least partially related to one another. Perhaps after killing his chosen victim and then discovering that another girl had discovered him, the killer had been unprepared to deal with a second victim in the same way and had therefore kidnapped her to dispose of her body elsewhere at a later date.

It was plausible, at least, although such details were not Sesshoumaru’s concern, either, as he moved in closer to the injured girl in that moment, fully assessing the situation. Since she was still alive it would be better to take her away from the area now, as she was, and dispose of her body by alternate means in an area the police would not survey during this investigation. He closed the gap between them then, preparing to scoop the girl up into his arms, but the look she gave him as their eyes met gave Sesshoumaru pause.

Rin looked up at him in a daze as he crouched down before her, her big brown eyes gazing at him not in fear but in relief, an emotion her scent confirmed, and he realized in that moment that she did not fear him in the slightest, apparently believing him to be her hero. Unexpectedly, a wave of remorse and hesitation came over him at the realization.

‘Saving’ her had not been his goal or intention, although as he thought about it, he supposed he didn’t really _have_ to kill her, except of course for the fact that she knew too much, had witnessed too much, and most humans could not be trusted to keep silent regarding such things. It was unfortunate, and collateral damage, but for the greater good it was his duty to eliminate this girl because of all she had witnessed rather than take any chances.

Or so he attempted to tell himself, at least, relying on logic to make the decision for him because his emotions were unexpectedly getting in the way. What he _wanted_ to do didn’t matter. He knew he could threaten her, bribe her, give her an ultimatum, and she would undoubtedly promise never to utter a word of it to anyone if only he would spare her life, but what would happen if the police ended up identifying her as a witness to the other girl’s murder and brought her in for questioning?

And if they suspected she knew something she was not telling them, and thought she had possibly been involved with the suspect in some way and started treating her hostilely, what then? Would she crack under the pressure? He simply couldn’t chance it.

Picking her up, then, he was momentarily put off by the way she immediately complied, not fighting him in the slightest. She didn’t go so far as to wrap her arms around his neck in return, but she definitely wasn’t trying to get out of his grasp as she rested her head against his muscular chest, her scent smelling even more strongly of relief now, as if she actually felt safe in his arms, like the nightmare was over.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, although he couldn’t deny that it was a pleasing odor, the scent of her _not_ fearing him Yes, the predator in him did relish in the scent of fear that would come off of his prey when he was hunting, but for some unknown reason, the fact that the young woman he currently held in his arms did _not_ smell of fear was refreshing. Rewarding even.

He also couldn’t help but notice the delicate, flowery scent that came from both her skin and clothing, as if she spent most of her time in a garden of fragrant blossoms. It was a natural scent that clung to her, not the artificial, chemical concoction of a perfume, and it seemed wholly out of place in the stale concrete of the city, but yet somehow, it fit her perfectly.

Unconsciously, he cradled her even closer to his body as he took another deep breath of her lovely fragrance, holding her much more tenderly than he should have bothered doing if his purpose was still to dispose of her corpse. She seemed so tiny and fragile in his grasp, like something precious he should protect, although he quickly scoffed at the absurd notion.

Taking a deep breath, then, hoping to dispel from his nose whatever it was he found appealing about the girl as the scent of her spilt blood reminded him that humans were lesser beings and their prey, Sesshoumaru quickly found, much to his dismay, that he simply could not deny his inexplicable attraction to her overall scent, and to make matters even worse the smell of her blood was, for some unknown reason, _not_ driving his inner beast to want to feed from her.

Was it possible for a pig farmer to grow attached to and wish to spare a particular sow? That was how he felt in that moment, as perplexing a notion as it was, and as he glanced her over while continuing to hold her in his arms, battling his own inner demons, she only made matters worse by continuing to look up at him in both relief and gratitude, feeling completely safe and secure. He attempted to ignore it but quickly found that he just couldn’t help himself as his eyes once again met hers, and the look in her chocolate orbs gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach he wasn’t quite sure how to identify. He couldn’t remember the last time a girl hadn’t looked at him like he was a monster, which he was. This young woman was clearly delusional, and most likely suffering from a concussion, he decided then.

Of course, the disobedient, conspiring part of his mind that had felt that wave of remorse at the thought of betraying her trust in him tried to argue in that moment that if the girl were truly out of it, then perhaps she really _didn’t_ need to be eliminated, after all. If she couldn’t accurately recognize what it was she had witnessed then she was of no threat to anyone.

“Do you know what happened here?” he asked her then, planning on gauging her reaction and answer to the question, basing his final decision off of that.

Rin was having trouble focusing, her head pounding. She felt dizzy and nauseous, and her entire body hurt, particularly her neck which stung like a son-of-a-bitch, like she’d been scratched something awful by a cat; she was allergic. A large part of her just wanted to close her eyes and will all the pain away, but as this unnaturally attractive man’s deep, alluring voice rang out through the silence she tried her best to latch on to it and use it as her lifeline, keeping herself grounded and as focused as possible.

Thinking might’ve been a little difficult at the moment, but she’d still figured out pretty quickly that this angelic, vampiric man had to be Sesshoumaru, Kagome having told her about him being in town to hunt that other vampire down, and so even though they’d never met and she didn’t know if he even had any idea who she was or that she was friends with his ‘blood-brother’ she still didn’t fear him. He was there only to find and put a stop to that other vampire, so why would he hurt her after saving her?

Besides, if he _were_ going to kill her, himself, then wouldn’t he have done it already?

What had he asked her again?

Blinking a few times, Rin tried to clear the fuzziness from her head to no avail. Her entire body hurt, and a dark part of her mind thought that now she knew what being a bug against a windshield felt like. Except she hadn’t actually splatted, of course, and for that she was _definitely_ grateful. She imagined she’d probably be one giant bruise by tomorrow, but at least it didn’t feel like anything was broken. That would hurt even worse, wouldn’t it?

What was the question again? Did she know what’d happened? She nodded her head yes, before closing her eyes and wincing; nodding had not been a good idea.

“Becky...came to meet Victor...” she started then, licking her dry lips before blinking her eyes back open to meet Sesshoumaru’s gaze once more. Her voice was hoarse; it hurt to talk. “I...followed but...couldn’t save...” she tried to elaborate before she had to stop, her lungs burning.

No sharp, stabbing pain as she breathed in, though, so that was good, she mentally noted, even as tears came to her eyes at the reminder of her failure. “Tried to warn...in’ernet bad...” she slurred, her voice growing shaky from crying.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of her tears, surprised by the initial instinct he felt bubble up from within himself to console her in some way before he squashed that reaction down, refusing to be moved by her tears, outwardly at the very least.

Noting that she’d yet to mention anything supernatural, his tone was still neutral as he asked her, “Do you remember what happened next?”

Based on her casual mannerism considering just who – or what – was cradling her in _its_ arms, Sesshoumaru was quickly coming to the conclusion that she had to be suffering from a concussion, or shock, or perhaps a bit of both. She had obviously been injured in some other way by that other vampire than just the shallow bite mark on her neck, seeing as she had been lying prone when Victor had approached and nearly killed her, the girl not having even attempted to scurry out of the way before he’d grabbed her by the hair. Something had obviously prevented her from attempting to flee at that time; ‘Victor’ had obviously already hurt her in some way and had left her lying there injured until he’d gone back for the kill after taking care of the first girl.

“You saved me...” Rin answered then to his second question, a bit of a lopsided grin finding its way up her lips as her tears stopped, finding herself totally smitten by this handsome, centuries old vampire.

Sesshoumaru felt something tug at his heartstrings at the unbridled trust and praise in her voice.

The way she was grinning up at him... How could he possibly kill her now? Just how much of a monster _was_ he? If he were going to do it he’d have to be quick about it, snap her neck or something, so that there would be no chance for her beautiful eyes to darken with the heat of betrayal and hatred. For some reason, the thought of her looking at him like _that_ really bothered him, even though he logically knew that it shouldn’t. She was nothing to him. And yet, inexplicably, she seemed to affect him in some way.

Just what _was_ it about this girl? Why was she so special?

Why was she causing him to throw all of his logic out the window in favor of listening to the emotions that he hadn’t let rule himself in over four hundred years? It was as if she had somehow, with a single look, awakened within him from its slumber the heart of the human man he had once been those many centuries ago. He suddenly remembered what it was like to feel compassion, from before he had forced himself to build a cold wall of ice around his heart in order to cope with the fact that he was now quite literally a bloodthirsty demon.

“Come on,” he said then, realizing quickly enough that no matter what he did, he couldn’t just stand around in that store’s back loading dock all night long. He still wasn’t sure what to do with her, and whether he’d let her live or not, but one thing he did know was that he couldn’t kill her there.

He also couldn’t leave any evidence behind that she had ever been there in the first place, and turned to collect her fallen purse in that moment. Adjusting the way he held her, he crouched down and reached for its strap with his free hand, but then suddenly paused as an unexpected scent from within the bag caught his attention.

Silver, and lots of it.

Confused, he reached inside, his eyes widening in shock to discover the rather impressive looking silver dagger that he quickly dropped to the ground with a loud clank, clutching the girl with both hands again when he nearly dropped her as well in his surprise.

“Who _are_ you?” he asked her then, standing back up and staring down at her in total disbelief.

Her eyes, which had widened in surprise from that split second of him shuffling her form in his arms, calmed back down in that moment, the heavenly sound of his voice speaking once again sending chills down her spine. Her smile was back in an instant.

“Rin...” she answered then, her voice quiet but legible. “I’m Rin.” As if that answered all the questions in the world.

Then furrowing her brow, it was as if something had suddenly dawned on her as she glanced all around before murmuring more to herself, “Where’s Kagome?”

It was Sesshoumaru’s turn to furrow his brow at the unexpected question, even though he could tell that Rin had been more talking to herself than actually asking him. But Kagome? Was that not the name of Inuyasha’s female? He was quite certain he recalled hearing his ‘brother’ mention the name at least a couple of times during their conversation the previous night.

How did this young human woman know of her? And come to think of it, just _what_ was she doing with such an impressive, and solid _silver_ dagger tucked within her purse?

Was her mention of Kagome’s name truly a coincidence, a reference to some random human woman of the same name, or was she in fact the same Kagome, meaning that this Rin girl was acquaintances with a female vampire? But why, if she were actually friends with a vampire, would she carry around a silver dagger?

Though, on the other hand, why would she have one if she knew nothing about them?

It actually made more sense that Kagome might have informed Rin of its usefulness, and she carried it for protection against _other_ vampires. But why was she expecting Kagome to be there in that moment?

Something just didn’t add up; there was obviously a missing piece to this puzzle and Sesshoumaru intended on finding out what it was.

“How do you know of Kagome?” he asked her then, but Rin’s expression only grew more confused and drawn in, the look in her eyes suggesting that her mind was wandering off elsewhere as she tried to focus on something that was clearly puzzling _her_.

He quickly decided that she was most likely having trouble focusing because of her injuries, which was mildly disconcerting, actually. She might just die all on her own, depending on how badly she’d been hurt, which would obviously eliminate his need to take care of it himself and should therefore be a good thing from his point of view, but then, why did the thought actually fill him with regret? Discreetly sniffing her more thoroughly, she didn’t smell like she was bleeding internally anywhere, and he actually sighed in relief, which all went unnoticed by the girl in his arms.

Rin didn’t notice her savior’s current emotional struggle because she was too busy trying to calculate in her mind about how much time might’ve gone by and whether or not Kagome should have been there by now. Rin was certain the vampiress was on her way, and she didn’t want to worry her best friend if Sesshoumaru were to take her away somewhere, if Kagome arrived on the scene after she was gone.

Rin also felt bad for having called Kagome up in such a panic in the first place, since it’d turned out her assistance hadn’t been required, after all. But how was she supposed to have known that Sesshoumaru was about to appear out of nowhere like that? No, she was sure that Kagome would tell her that calling her had been the right move, because as far as Rin had been aware Kagome had been her only hope at the time. She just hoped her friend wasn’t in too much trouble with her boss for skipping out on the job like that.

Finally adjusting her attention to focus once again on the man holding her, Rin studied his features. He just had to be Sesshoumaru, although come to think of it she realized that that was only a guess, albeit a good guess. He was clearly a vampire. He had to be, because of his intense coloring, just like Inuyasha’s, not to mention the way he’d been able to take Victor out like that. At least Becky had been avenged, and for that she was grateful.

This man...this gorgeous, ethereal man...had beyond-platinum blond hair and golden yellow eyes. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he and Inuyasha were _actual_ brothers, but apparently there was no true blood relation between them. They’d both just happened to be blond with hazel eyes beforehand, and so after being ‘turned’ their coloring had gotten amped-up the same way, too. Apparently their sire had had a thing for blonds with hazel eyes.

“Are you Sesshoumaru?” she asked him then, and his formally hazel eyes widened so quickly his eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs. “Kagome said you were after the bad guy,” she continued, and remaining silent, he let the human girl ramble on in her present train of thought, unsure of what else he _could_ do, although it was quickly becoming apparent that killing her was not an option. He thanked the gods he had not already done so.

“Victor was the bad guy,” Rin continued then, talking more to herself again as another round of tears fell from her eyes. “I tried to warn Becky...” Her words were cut off by a sniffle as she started crying again.

As she talked, Sesshoumaru only half listening, a tremendous wave of relief regarding the fact that he had not already killed her washed over him. If she were somehow actually an acquaintance of Inuyasha and Kagome then the last thing he wanted to do was give his sire-brother a legitimate reason to challenge him in a fight; he honestly wasn’t sure which one of them would win. Although he would never admit it to the slightly younger vampire’s face, Inuyasha’s aura radiated with power. Sesshoumaru was impressed.

But Inuyasha’s prowess as a demon elder was not in question here; whether or not the girl he held in his arms needed to be killed or protected was quite literally the issue at hand, and as he adjusted the way he held her, cradling her more tenderly again, the way a husband might carry his new bride over the threshold, he finally concluded that it was the latter.

Somehow, for whatever reason, she knew Inuyasha and Kagome, and even knew of himself, apparently, or at least the fact that he was in town to hunt the ‘bad guy’, which had definitely been Victor, whom she’d apparently also known at least in passing, also having been friends with Becky, the victim, whom Victor had clearly met over the Internet the same way as his previous victims. For that reason it was no longer a matter of Rin having witnessed too much with regard to the way Victor had murdered her friend and how he had then slain Victor in return; Sesshoumaru now believed that Rin could most likely be trusted, and he would leave the final decision up to Inuyasha.

“Yes, Rin, I am Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha’s sire-brother.”

Unlike the last time, this time when he spoke, his words immediately earned Rin’s full attention again, as she sniffled once more before clearly trying to cease her tears. She looked up at him again.

“You kinda look like him, even,” Rin murmured in reply, before furrowing her brow once more as if truly thinking about it. Then her face cracked into a huge grin, and giggling, she added, “‘Cept you’re _way_ handsomer.”

Sesshoumaru couldn’t help chuckling at that.

It would appear she had not suffered very severe head trauma, after all, if she could still make such a quick, and accurate, assessment. Smirking to himself at the thought for a moment, he then glanced back down at her, and seeing as she was still smiling up at him so happily, in no way shy or embarrassed about what she’d just said, he softened his features and offered her a genuine smile in return.

Lifting her up some and bending his head down, then, he gave her a good long sniff, smirking again as she giggled a second time. He was pleased to note that there was not a single trace of ‘death’ encroaching upon her scent, which would have most likely started by now if she were truly on her way out from internal bleeding or some other physical trauma she might have sustained. She probably did have a mild concussion, as well as several bruises, some of which he could actually see starting to develop on her face and arms, and she would undoubtedly need to take it easy for a while, but he fully believed in that moment that she would be okay.

“Let’s get you out of here,” he stated then, turning with the intention of bending down to retrieve her purse and dagger, not to mention her smashed cell phone, before then following Inuyasha’s directions to his and Kagome’s apartment.

He figured bringing her to the pair would be the most logical thing to do if she really did know them; they would know what to do with her from there. Before he could even collect Rin’s fallen items, however, Sesshoumaru was caught off guard by the sudden distant sound of rapidly approaching footsteps.

_Too_ rapidly.

No human could run that fast, and neither could a wolf in human form, so that only left one possibility, and suddenly, Rin’s earlier question about where Kagome was and her apparent confusion over the female vampire’s absence made more sense.

In the blink of an eye, Kagome appeared before them, zipping into the back loading dock and coming to a stop with narrowed eyes piercing daggers in Sesshoumaru’s direction.

When she’d heard Rin’s panicked whisper on the phone, whatever little color she had left to her complexion those days had immediately drained from her face, and then when she’d heard the man’s taunting voice chime in followed by Rin’s squeak of surprise and then what’d sounded like it might’ve been her phone hitting the ground before the line went dead, Kagome had run into the back room while throwing off her apron, stating in a panicked rush of her own that there was a family emergency and that she had to go _now_. Fuck ’em if they fired her for it, which she didn’t think they could legally do anyway although she was obviously in no position to press charges if they did.

What might or might not become of her job was not even the last thing on her mind, it wasn’t on her mind _at all_ as she ran as quickly as she could to the mall, scanning for Rin’s scent every step of the way to let it guide her the final few hundred feet to her exact destination.

Racing around the side of the building, Kagome saw red when all that initially registered in her mind was the sight of a preternatural man holding Rin’s bruised and bloody body in his arms. The bite mark on her neck and the scent of her tears did _not_ go unnoticed, although what did go unnoticed in that first moment was Becky’s corpse, which, if examined, smelled wholly of a completely different vampire than the one currently holding Rin in a non-predatory manner.

That didn’t matter to Kagome, and neither did the nondescript pile of ash off to the side, which also went completely unnoticed at first glance.

“Put. Her. Down,” she commanded in a low voice, wishing to keep her voice down for fear of their conversation being overheard by shoppers exiting the mall, which was still open.

Taking a deep breath filled her with relief to note that Rin was still alive, and was also not dying.

The sight of this vampire holding her seemingly unconscious form, blood on her neck, still had Kagome’s instincts in ‘protect what is mine’ mode, although it definitely would have been _much_ worse if Rin had been on the precipice of life and death or had already perished. As it was, Kagome was still barely restraining her inner beast, her desire to not draw attention to themselves the only thing preventing her from screaming her rage at the top of her lungs. This man would pay for harming Rin.

Remaining calm in the face of her misguided animosity, Sesshoumaru didn’t need his sense of smell to know who this female vampire was, although her scent definitely confirmed it. He also wasn’t stupid enough to actually put Rin down; Kagome would be free to attack him if he did.

Maintaining his hold on the drowsy, but actually still awake girl, he addressed Kagome first in that moment, stating matter-of-factly while meeting her eyes, “I am not the one who injured her.”

Then, glancing back down to the twenty-two-year-old human female in his arms, who blinked up at him in confusion at his words, he murmured softly – and much more tenderly than Kagome had been expecting, which caused her own eyes to widen somewhat – “Rin, Kagome has arrived.”

Rin’s eyes opened fully in surprise at that news, the girl not having heard Kagome’s words of ‘greeting’ since they’d been uttered so quietly and also her ears were still ringing. Turning her head some in order to glance around, then, she winced at the mild pain the move caused her, though her mouth quickly pulled up into a huge, relieved smile, as she spotted Kagome’s crimson-eyed visage standing only a few feet away.

“Hey Kagome,” she greeted cheerfully. With a teasing sparkle in her eyes as she added, “You didn’t tell me Sesshoumaru was so handsome.”

Kagome raised an eyebrow at that, and couldn’t miss the twinkle of amusement in the male vampire’s eyes at Rin’s words, although he was clearly trying to remain passive and emotionless as he stared her down, waiting for her to put her fangs away with a stern look that resembled what a parent might give a child who’d been caught playing with something they weren’t allowed to touch.

Reversing her transformation, then, Kagome approached by a few feet and offered Sesshoumaru a sheepish grin.

“Uh...hi, nice to meet you,” she stated lamely, though much to her relief his eyes only shown with more amusement, and then he allowed the tiniest of smirks to creep up the edges of his lips as he nodded his head somewhat in her direction.

“Likewise,” he stated, before turning and gesturing with a nod of his head to Becky’s fallen form and the pile of ash that had been her killer.

“Unfortunately, I did not arrive in time to save Rin’s friend, but the vampire who was responsible is no longer an issue.”

Kagome glanced in the direction of Becky’s body at his words and felt a pang of remorse in her heart at the sight, although ultimately she stood by what she’d previously told Rin on the phone. She _had_ warned Becky of the potential dangers – at least to some degree – and Becky had made the decision to meet her online boyfriend, anyway. Neither she nor Rin had suspected that Victor might’ve been a supernatural predator, although the possibility that he was your typical _human_ predator had occurred to both of them, but short from holding Becky hostage Kagome had gotten the impression from Rin that there was nothing she could’ve done to stop her roommate from meeting up with him. Therefore it was not Rin’s fault, what had become of Becky; perhaps it had simply been Becky’s time to go, if you wanted to believe in all things happening for a reason.

And it had apparently also been Victor’s time to go, Kagome noted then, as she next examined the pile of dust and ash that was the remains of a slain vampire. No clothing remained; it was as if hell-fire itself rose up from within their demonic bodies to incinerate them from the inside out at their time of death, so they literally burned up into nothing but ash in the blink of an eye, and no trace of clothing could possibly survive that.

Quickly regretting the mistaken identity she’d made upon arrival, Kagome turned back to Sesshoumaru in that moment and offered him a more genuine smile, as she stated with all sincerity, “Thank you, both for eliminating that trouble maker as well as saving Rin’s life.”

Nodding his head in acknowledgment of her words, Sesshoumaru figured there was no point in admitting to the fact that he had originally been planning on dispatching the girl as a loose end. Why upset Kagome _and_ Rin with such unneeded information? The fact of the matter was that he had been torn, and battling with himself regarding that decision, even before realizing just who Rin actually was. And in fact he still didn’t _really_ know who Rin was, although it was easy enough for him to tell that Kagome was newly sired. She couldn’t possibly be more than a year or two old, in vampire terms, and so he quickly concluded that Rin must have been somebody she’d known prior to Inuyasha turning her, and that for whatever reason, Rin had been deemed trustworthy enough to be let in on the secret after the fact.

Such a decision, while risky, was admittedly theirs to make. He was in no place to condemn them their choice, considering he had several so-called ‘friends’ in high places, himself, although those acquaintanceships had all been forged for logistical purposes. He had no actual _friends_ , although, as he thought about it, he supposed he really had nobody but himself to blame for that fact.

“Come on,” Kagome said then, pulling Sesshoumaru from his momentarily wandering thoughts. “We’d better get her to our place,” she stated as she gave Rin a good once over with her nose and eyes, relief washing over her as she confirmed for herself that Rin wasn’t _too_ severely injured, just bashed up.

“Becky was her roommate, so once the police find her body they’ll go to the apartment for sure, and Rin shouldn’t be discovered with these injuries. I can tell she’s not dying, and she doesn’t need a hospital, just rest, so my and Inuyasha’s place is probably the best place for her until she recuperates,” Kagome added.

Sesshoumaru nodded his agreement to that, and maintained his hold on the human woman while Kagome took it upon herself to pick up Rin’s fallen purse and dagger, carefully placing the blade back within the bag, before then going over to where Victor had smashed her cellphone, making sure she picked up every single fragment so as not to leave anything for the crime scene investigators to discover.

After that, Kagome helped Rin with wrapping her arms up and around Sesshoumaru’s neck, while he marginally shifted the way he held her, something that while mildly painful, the human girl joked that she didn’t mind doing in the least.

“I’ll snuggle however closely into his embrace you want me too,” she stated with a smirk flashed Kagome’s way, which had the female vampire chuckling while Sesshoumaru tried and failed to act unaffected by her words, unable to prevent the momentary spark of _something_ that flashed in his eyes.

It was almost as if Rin was finding amusement with getting a rise out of him as she then buried her nose in the crook of his neck and proceeded to sniff him and murmur, “Mmm...you smell good.”

Surprised by Rin’s brazenness but not embarrassed, because Kagome just wasn’t a shy type of girl, she was actually amused by the cocky smirk that crept up Sesshoumaru’s lips at Rin’s comment, the male vampire apparently no longer interested in trying to mask his facial features. Kagome had a brief flash of visualizing him as a male bird puffing his feathers out in pride because of receiving female approval, and she chuckled quietly at the random thought. Men were all the same, no matter _how_ old they were.

Shaking her head to dispel such random, silly thoughts, Kagome then continued what she was doing, rearranging Rin’s hair to conceal the shallow bite mark on her neck and bruised cheek to make it appear more as if Sesshoumaru were merely carrying her because she was tired and not because she was injured. Rin holding on to Sesshoumaru in return also made their appearance together much more natural to possible witnesses, as the young woman was clearly a willing participant; no passersby could possibly believe Sesshoumaru and Kagome to be kidnapping the younger woman so long as she clung to him in such an intimate way. It was all for show, although Sesshoumaru apparently didn’t mind it.

“So do you,” he whispered in Rin’s ear, which earned a faint giggle from the human woman.

Rolling her eyes, Kagome led the way once they were ready to go, heading back to the apartment she shared with her sire and boyfriend at a swift but natural pace, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to themselves by racing down the street too quickly.

Reaching the apartment after a twenty minutes or so, Kagome ran up to the door and unlocked it, not bothering with a verbal invite for the man carrying Rin in behind her because since the residence was being rented by vampires those rules didn’t apply.

Inuyasha appeared from the bedroom with eyes widened in surprise as they entered.

“What happened?!” he asked quickly, his tone worried.

Immediately taking a deep breath, the three-hundred-year-old vampire sighed in relief to note that whatever had happened, Rin would be all right. Now he was very glad that he’d decided to stay in town. Usually he drove into the larger cities on Kagome’s work nights for something to do to keep himself entertained and make some extra cash, but because he knew Sesshoumaru was in town trying to hunt down that other newcomer, who was apparently a rebel and risk to them all with his hunting practices, Inuyasha had decided to stick around just on the off chance that Sesshoumaru would phone him and ask for his assistance, after all.

He’d actually seriously doubted that he would be hearing from his ‘big brother’ again, expecting to just eventually notice that Sesshoumaru’s scent had disappeared from their town shortly after the scent of that other vampire had disappeared as well, but the possibility of a phone call was not zero and so he had wanted to hang around _just_ in case. But while he’d thought the odds were slim but not impossible that he would receive a phone call from his brother on that, or any other night, he had never in a million years expected to see his sire-brother suddenly rush in through his front door behind Kagome, cradling an injured Rin in his arms.

Sesshoumaru quickly gave Inuyasha the rundown of what all he had witnessed and done, before attempting to place Rin on their couch, stating that he needed to go back because he had yet to dispose of Victor’s remains and he did not want to leave them for the police to discover. _Especially_ since they already had vampire saliva on file, even though they didn’t know it, from doing swabs of the victims’ necks. What if the ash gave similar DNA test results? What if even one person suddenly decided the whole ‘vampire’ angle to those killings might not have been a hoax, after all? He simply couldn’t chance it, and Kagome and Inuyasha both readily agreed. As he tried to put Rin down, though, the human woman began to protest, Rin clearly having a different idea.

“No...don’t go...” she whimpered, gazing up at Sesshoumaru with fear for the first time, though it was fear of his departure, because she wanted him to stay with her.

“Rin, sweetie, Sesshoumaru’s got something he has to do, but then he’ll be back,” Kagome stated then, and Rin glanced her way for a moment before turning her eyes to meet Sesshoumaru’s again, the look in her chocolate orbs silently begging him not to leave her.

“Promise you’ll come back?” she asked quietly, sounding totally lost and alone, and Sesshoumaru wanted to groan and glare at Kagome for having opened her mouth although as he continued to look down at the woman who still clung to him he suddenly felt a reluctance to leave her that was all his own.

What _was_ it with this woman? She was safe now, and that should be all that mattered, yet as she continued to look up at him so sadly, begging him to stay with her eyes, he found that a large part of him actually wanted to do just that.   
  


He was just about to promise her that yes, he would come back, but Inuyasha beat him to it in that moment.

“Don’t worry about it; you saved her so I can get why she doesn’t want you to leave right now. You can stay here, with Rin. I’ll go take care of that asshole’s remains so that there’s nothing left for the cops to find.”

Inuyasha had instantly recognized the look in Sesshoumaru’s eyes, it having been a look he knew he’d worn himself last All Saints’ Day. Not when he’d thought Kagome was about to die at dawn, because he was sure _that_ look had been much more grief-stricken, but rather, he’d recognized the emotion behind it as having been what he’d felt while she’d been packing up her belongings, when he hadn’t yet known if she would actually be willing to give ‘them’ a try. Longing, mixed with mild confusion as to why he felt such longing, topped with acceptance that regardless of the reason, that was how he felt.

At that time, when he hadn’t even known yet if Kagome would forgive him for ruining her life, Inuyasha hadn’t wanted to leave her, but he would have, for her sake, if that had been what _she’d_ wanted. When she’d finally told him, though, that yes, she _did_ want to stay with him, actually almost begging him to not abandon her to this new, strange world, his heart had melted at the look in her eyes, and leaving her side had simply ceased to be an option.

The look Kagome had given him at that time was the same look Rin had just given Sesshoumaru now. Inuyasha didn’t know how or why, but something had obviously clicked between them, and he had no desire to get in the way. Not only had he recognized the look in both of their eyes, but there was also the fact that, as a vampire, he could actually smell strong human emotions, and while subtle nuances couldn’t accurately be deciphered Rin had given off a giant amount of _panic_ at the thought of Sesshoumaru leaving her. There was no way he was going to tear them apart after that; he’d never do that to Rin, _or_ Sesshoumaru.

The elder vampire cast his sire-brother a look of gratitude in that moment, because it was true, he _didn’t_ want to leave Rin, or at least not just yet. Sure, his nose was telling him that she would be okay, but what if she wouldn’t be? And besides, _Rin_ was the one who’d originally asked him to stay with her, and so therefore it wasn’t as if he actually had to openly admit to his own desires, even though he knew they were obvious. He wanted to make Rin happy, but beyond that, he also wanted to stay in her company for himself. How fortunate, indeed, that they both wanted the same thing.

What was _wrong_ with him?

Whatever it was, Sesshoumaru didn’t honestly care in that moment, as he gently placed Rin on the couch before having a seat beside her, now that she was willing to release her grip on him.

Nodding his head in Sesshoumaru’s direction as a silent ‘you’re welcome’, Inuyasha then cast a knowing look Kagome’s way, nodding his head once before grabbing his things and heading out the door. Kagome, who’d nodded back, approached Rin and Sesshoumaru in that moment.

Setting Rin’s belongings down on the coffee table before the pair, she reached into Rin’s purse for her key and said, “Okay, Rin, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll go run to your place and grab you a few things. The perfect excuse once the cops eventually ask can be that since you knew Becky’s boyfriend Victor was coming to town you’d agreed to give her the apartment all to herself. That’ll work even if he booked a hotel room ‘cause we can just say that it had been Becky’s idea to offer him use of your place instead as a gesture of kindness and to save him money or whatever. Less is more, information wise, and since Becky’s...unable to speak for herself, you can just say you’ve got no idea what Victor’s plans were and all you know is that Becky had wanted you out for a few days and you’d agreed.

“When they ask me and Inuyasha we’ll confirm it, that you called me up and asked if you could crash with us for a couple of days. You obviously wouldn’t be expecting to hear from Becky if she’s having a great time with her new beau, so that’ll explain why it’ll take a few days for you to ‘find out’ what happened to her and for the cops to get in touch with you. Besides, you just accidentally broke your phone, so that gives you yet another excuse.”

Rin nodded her understanding to all that Kagome said, and even added, “Plus, now, no one knows you’ve never hung out at my place before ‘cause of Becky, so of course your fingerprints are there ‘cause we’re friends and you’ve come over before is all we’ll say, ‘cause there’s no way to date fingerprints so there’s no way to know you went there just now to grab my things after the fact.”

Rin didn’t officially invite Kagome in that moment because she didn’t need to, because Kagome had always had an open invitation to Rin’s apartment ever since the two women had become friends. After the fact, it had later been mutually agreed that since Becky wasn’t ‘in the know’ it would be better if Rin always went to Kagome and Inuyasha’s apartment for visits, instead, but that didn’t mean Kagome had ever been uninvited.

“All the more reason to leave Becky’s remains as they are, in this instance,” Sesshoumaru chimed in in that moment, explaining, “If she were to have ‘disappeared’, or even perished in some other manner, there would surely be a much more localized investigation, where many little details might be discovered...”

Rin thought about having had the taxi driver take her circling the mall’s parking lot, while Kagome thought about the way she’d bolted from her work in a panic.

“...However,” Sesshoumaru continued, “Leaving her to be discovered as she is, the next victim of a known serial killer, will quickly take the investigators’ eyes away from you both.”

Rin nodded to that as well, knowing he was right and feeling mildly relieved that her ‘suspicious’ activities probably wouldn’t be discovered, although the reminder of Becky’s death brought a fresh round of tears to her eyes.

“Okay, so I’m going to go grab you a few days’ worth of clothes and other things to make it look like you’d deliberately planned on staying elsewhere for the next few days. Be back in a little while,” Kagome stated in a rush then, meeting Sesshoumaru’s gaze with a look in her royal blue eyes that had the elder demon feeling inexplicably flustered before she turned, grabbed her own keys and headed out the door.

He was being left alone, with Rin. Alone. That shouldn’t matter or mean anything, and yet it definitely did. That Inuyasha and Kagome both trusted him so completely, knowing how important Rin obviously was to them both even though he still didn’t know the details about how their friendship had developed...that really meant a lot to him. He hadn’t been expecting such an emotional reaction, but there it was. After all, nobody had ever _trusted_ him before, considering what he was. None of his human acquaintances trusted him, except to trust in the fact that he was indeed a monster who would make good on his threats if they betrayed him in any way, as well as a man of his word who would keep his promises so long as they delivered their end of the bargain. They trusted that he wouldn’t kill them so long as they didn’t give him a reason to, regarding their business arrangements.

That was a hell of a lot different than the so-called brother he hadn’t seen in _centuries_ suddenly trusting him to not harm a person who was clearly important to him and his woman. That showed Sesshoumaru that despite the fact that he and Inuyasha had never really gotten along, there was no real hatred there. Perhaps now that they were both older it was time to put their past behind them. Their sire was dead, the familial link between them dying with him, but that did not mean they could not choose to socialize on occasion.

He would give the matter further thought at a later time. In that moment, the most important thing to Sesshoumaru was quickly becoming getting Rin to cease her crying.

“Rin...” he spoke up then, immediately earning the teary-eyed girl’s attention.

Crap. What did one say to a person in such a situation?

“I am...sorry, that I did not arrive early enough to prevent that urchin from killing your friend. I had been approaching him slowly and quietly so that he would not become aware of my presence in time to flee, at that time the only thing that mattered to me having been confronting him regarding his actions, not saving his latest victim.”

Taking a deep breath, he sighed.

“Perhaps, if I had arrived sooner...”

“No, it’s okay,” Rin spoke up then, her voice shaky from crying although she was trying to calm herself down. “At least you saved me, even if that hadn’t been your original intention, so thank you. I owe you my life.”

Sesshoumaru blinked in surprise at her choice of phrasing, wondering if she even knew how seriously such a statement had used to be taken back in the day. He wouldn’t hold her to it, though, even though she was technically correct. That she had even just acknowledged it meant a lot to him.

Unaware of the direction her words had taken Sesshoumaru’s thoughts, Rin wiped at her face with her hands to dry her eyes in that moment, the move causing her to scrunch her face up in mild pain as she inadvertently pushed on her bruises. It felt like her whole face was one big bruise, actually. Poking around, she quickly discovered that there was no place that didn’t really hurt on the side of her face that’d hit the wall along with the rest of her body.

“Ugh...I’m probably the color of a purple prince,” she groaned, closing her eyes in disgust of herself. Here she’d been almost flirting with this _god_ sitting beside her and she must’ve looked absolutely ridiculous in his eyes.

Sesshoumaru wasn’t sure what a ‘purple prince’ was, although he quickly and accurately chalked it up to a type of flower. The purple part was obvious enough, at least.

“No, you don’t, although I can see some faint bruising starting to surface in a few places. It will probably look much worse tomorrow.”

She turned her head to gaze his way at that, her eyes liquid brown. Her cheek was a little swollen, as were her eyes from crying, and she still had dried blood on her neck from the shallow bite that had thankfully stopped bleeding long ago, but somehow, in that moment, he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. His gaze softened.

“What happened, anyway?” he asked her then, true concern in his voice besides plain curiosity, and much to his surprise she smiled a little at his question, as if the simple fact that he’d cared to ask had filled her with joy.

“I’ll be all right,” she assured him then, explaining, “Victor just threw me against the wall, although I hit it pretty hard. I feel like I got hit by a truck, actually, but I don’t think anything’s broken.” Poking and prodding at herself a little bit, she asked hesitantly, “That would hurt worse, right? I mean, like if I had a cracked rib or something?”

She took a deep breath and tried to hold it as long as she could, before dissolving into a coughing fit.

Eyes widening in surprise and panic, Sesshoumaru somehow instinctively moved to hold her, gently rubbing his hand up and down her back to hopefully sooth her breathing, which it did, as she almost immediately calmed back down.

Pulling back just enough to glance up into his eyes, the look in Rin’s own was uncertain, hesitant, but also sparkling with a deep seeded desire that caught Sesshoumaru off guard. Nobody had looked at him like _that_ in quite some time, either. Quickly, while he still held her and before she allowed herself the chance to chicken out, Rin leaned up and placed a tender kiss upon his lips. She immediately felt him stiffen up, and pulling back, she turned away, ashamed of herself and her actions. She actually almost got up from the couch before a hand very gently clasping her upper arm gave her pause, as she turned her head back to glance his way questioningly.

“Stay...” he requested quietly, not unaware of their role reversal as the look in his eyes revealed the conflict he felt raging within himself, warring emotions he no longer wished to hide from her.

Wordlessly, Rin nodded, settling herself back down on the sofa beside him. A little flicker of hope bubbled up in her chest at the realization that a part of him might actually want her, after all, even if she’d caught him by surprise and he was torn because of her humanity. She would give him a chance to think about it, then.

In an effort to distract himself from his tumultuous thoughts in the silence that followed, Sesshoumaru took the opportunity to glance around the living room, surprised by how...normal...Inuyasha and Kagome’s apartment actually looked. There were even some framed photographs of people he assumed were Kagome’s family members sitting on the side table next to him. One photograph in particular caught his attention, and he picked it up to study it more thoroughly, the image being of a small boy standing beside a rather large and intimidating looking wolf.

That was no ordinary wolf, though. An untrained human eye might not recognize the difference, but to him recognition was instantaneous. Just who _was_ this Kagome person, and how had she become acquainted with the local werewolves, anyway? Now Sesshoumaru wished he had asked Inuyasha for those details, after all.

“That’s Kagome’s little brother and grandfather,” Rin spoke up at the sight of Sesshoumaru’s curiosity regarding the photo he held. His eyes widened in shock at her words.

“Pardon?”

Quickly realizing that Sesshoumaru apparently didn’t know who Kagome was, or rather, who she had once been, and figuring that their history was something that Sesshoumaru had a right to know about, all things considered, Rin launched into the story in that moment, giving him a brief yet accurate retelling of how she and Kagome had _actually_ first met all those many years ago, and then how the former she-wolf had met Inuyasha last year, and then finally how Rin had gotten to know the both of them as individuals, the three of them quickly becoming close friends.

Sesshoumaru listened to the story in total and utter amazement, the most baffling part, to him, being the fact that Inuyasha had actually managed to develop feelings for a werewolf. Shrugging it off when he expressed his amazement to her, Rin explained simply that the way they’d both explained it to _her_ was that there had just been some kind of undeniable attraction there between them, just something drawing them both together, and that even Kagome’s family was accepting of it because they believed it had been fate’s doing, Kagome’s destiny; the will of the gods, or the universe, or whatever you wanted to call it. It had simply been meant to be; all things happened for a reason.

Sesshoumaru listened to Rin’s explanation, all the while unable to ignore the undeniable attraction he himself felt for the human female. She truly was like no other, he realized then, knowing what she knew, accepting what she accepted. She knew he was a centuries old vampire, for example, and yet despite that knowledge she was speaking to him so normally, engaging him in pleasant conversation about her friends who just so happened to also be vampires, one of whom had, apparently, once been a _werewolf_ , and all the while this human girl didn’t seem to think anything strange about it in the slightest.

She was one-of-a-kind, of that he was certain.

“How can you be so open-minded as to accept all of this without issue?” he asked her then, unable to restrain his curiosity any longer.

Rin blinked in surprise at the question before just shrugging it off again.

“It would be kinda foolish to deny what’s so obviously true and real, don’tcha think?” she asked with a teasing edge. “I mean sure, I was afraid at first, right after what happened last Halloween. Who wouldn’t be? But after getting to know Inuyasha and Kagome I actually feel better about life altogether; I feel informed. I’m super relieved to not be condemned to live out the rest of my life in complete ignorance to the truths of our world. I suppose most humans would probably freak out to learn how beings like you are real and not be able to deal with it, but I guess I’m just not like most humans,” she answered then, unknowingly mirroring his own thoughts on the matter.

_And thank goodness for that, otherwise I would have surely disposed of her before learning just who she was_... he thought, once again relieved that he had not harmed her, although not just for selfish reasons.

Yes, he was most definitely grateful for the fact that he had not accidentally done anything to earn Inuyasha and Kagome’s wrath; the two of them together would have most definitely been able to take him out, if it had been two against one, considering Inuyasha’s strength alone almost rivaled his own. But beyond that, now that he was getting to know Rin as a person, Sesshoumaru could no longer even imagine the possibility of doing her harm. Such a thing was simply out of the question, and he was tremendously relieved that he had not done so before getting the chance to realize just how special and one-of-a-kind she truly was. He was relieved for himself that he had not harmed her, because it would have been a shame, indeed, to not get to know such a unique and wonderful person, but even beyond that, for Rin’s _own_ sake, he was grateful that he had left her alive. She did not deserve to die; not by his own hand or anyone else’s. She was sweet, and kind, and caring, and understanding...

And passionate.

And attracted to _him_.

He would not be forgetting about that kiss any time soon, or the emotion she’d put behind it. It would be foolish to deny what was so obviously true and real, would it not? He felt the thought awaken something that he’d kept locked away deeply within himself for far too long, and suddenly, some of the conflict he’d been feeling resolved itself. He would deny himself no longer.

“You are most definitely not like other humans,” he agreed then, meeting Rin’s gaze with an intensity in his own that sent shivers down the girl’s spine.

Instead of feeling intimidated, scared, or even just plain ol’ nervous that such a beautiful, majestic being was gazing at her like _that_ , the sudden fire in his eyes quickly caused a heat to ignite in her own belly, rekindling the desire she’d previously started to feel as she gazed at him and marveled in his perfection. Perhaps it was cliché, that this vampire’s stare could make her insides melt so quickly, but on the other hand, Inuyasha was also a very attractive male vampire and she’d never once felt _that_ way about _him_.

Maybe that was just because she respected the fact that he was Kagome’s man, though, and he’d also most definitely never looked at her the way Sesshoumaru was currently looking at her, either, since he only had eyes for Kagome as well. Of course, Victor certainly hadn’t turned her on, either, come to think of it, and so maybe it wasn’t so much the fact that he was a vampire, after all, and simply because he was _Sesshoumaru,_ that she was swooning over him as much as she was. Maybe it was fate, destiny, the will of the gods or the universe, or E, all of the above.

Whatever it was, in that moment, Rin had no desire to fight it.

Leaning forward then, like a moth to a flame, she forgot all about her momentary vow to let him be the one to make the next move. That look of his _had_ been him making the next move, and she felt the heat within her body ignite into an all out inferno when, as her lips touched his for the second time, he actually returned her kiss, his arms very carefully and gently wrapping around her back and the back of her head to hold her in place as he started deepening the kiss.

She winced as his soft touches still aggravated her bruising, and with the magic of the moment broken he gently pushed her away, then, the look in his eyes now more apologetic than anything else.

“You are injured,” he stated matter-of-factly, as if that were the end of it right there, but she wasn’t about to let him off the hook _that_ easily.

Not after revealing what was truly in his heart. If he actually didn’t want her that’d be one thing, but since he _did_...

“I have Advil,” she answered just as matter-of-factly as his statement had been, turning and reaching for her purse on the coffee table.

She tried not to scrunch her face up in any discomfort as she stretched, and then quickly finding what she was looking for she popped two pills, swallowing them without water.

“Still, you should probably rest,” Sesshoumaru gently argued, his tone of voice softer, reflecting some of the various emotions he felt. “You are probably only feeling this way because-”

The look she shot him at that statement had him shutting up in an instant, not completing the thought aloud. Okay, so maybe she _wasn’t_ only feeling that way because he had saved her life, because she was suffering from some kind of emotional trauma she would later recover from. But still...

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he admitted then, his tone of voice the softest she’d heard it yet, and whether he meant physically or emotionally, or both, her heart melted at his obvious sincerity.

“You won’t,” she assured him then, reaching for the buttons on her shirt and undoing them one by one.

Sesshoumaru could only stare, unable to believe what he was seeing. Kissing the girl might or might not have been a mistake, although it’d been something he’d wanted to do and so for that reason he did not regret it, but now that she was disrobing...

As if sensing the sudden hesitation he felt, Rin actually smirked, and deciding that she wanted to bring his playful and confident side back to the surface she asked him in a teasing voice, “Check me for injuries?”

He quirked an eyebrow at that. She wanted to play doctor, did she?

“Very well,” he replied, the edges of his lips pulling up into a teasing smirk of his own.

If she wanted to play, then who was he to stop her? Sure, he could put his foot down and simply refuse her advances, if he wanted to, and he most definitely would have, if he’d _wanted_ to, but the fact of the matter was that a large part of him was undeniably attracted to her, and so since she felt the same way what was the harm in giving in just this once?

It wasn’t as if he had never been with a human female before, after becoming a vampire. He _was_ still a man, and so even though he prided himself on having control over his emotions there had still been the few odd occasions when his body had hungered for something other blood. He had also been with the occasional female vampire, but those instances had been rough and dominating, meant to sate an aggressive need both he and the vampiress had felt at that time with neither of them desiring further contact with the other afterwards. With his occasional past human encounters, they had always been unaware of what he really was, until it was too late, of course, and while he had never felt quite as dirty afterwards as to compare himself to a sheep herder that’d engaged in bestiality there had still been an unpleasantness to the act that would haunt him for a few nights afterwards, as if giving in to those types of physical desires had been a weakness on his part.

Would he feel that way with Rin? He wasn’t sure, but as he watched her remove her shirt before attempting to reach for the clasp of her bra he found in that moment that he didn’t really care. For the first time ever in his extended existence he simply didn’t _care_ if it was a weakness to give in to such desires. This encounter would be different from his past experiences in one very important way, since she knew what he was and he also had absolutely no intention of betraying her trust in him by feeding from her afterwards, and so therefore, he was not being a manipulative hunter this time around, tricking and misleading his unknowing prey; he was simply a consenting adult, as was she, and there was nothing wrong with that.

As he watched Rin wince as she attempted to bend her arms far enough to reach behind herself to unfasten her bra he reached forward with both of his hands to stop her attempt, turning the top half of his body sideways to face her as he sat beside her on the couch. Clasping both of her elbows with his hands in a gentle hold that would not cause her any pain, he then murmured softly, “Let me.”

Nodding with a smile, she dropped both of her hands into her lap, also sitting crooked on the couch to face him, unashamed to be sitting before him in only jeans and a bra, her shirt now lying on the floor.

Reaching up to her face with his right hand, first, Sesshoumaru very gently pressed on her cheeks one at a time with the tips of his index and middle fingers, murmuring a soft apology as she grimaced. He knew she’d been teasing, but she _had_ asked him to check her for injuries, and so he would. Prodding her face, he quickly concluded that while bruised, nothing was broken. Not that she could have been speaking so freely with a broken jaw but he just wanted to be thorough. Leaning forward, he kissed her then, and closing her eyes in pleasure Rin immediately complied, letting him guide her.

He kissed her long and hard, but yet softly enough to not cause her too much pain, and what little discomfort she did feel was pushed to the back of her mind as she reached up to fist her hands in his perfect hair, kissing him back for all he was worth.

Finally, it was Sesshoumaru who pulled away, in Rin’s need for air.

“Your mouth certainly appears uninjured,” he told her with twinkling amusement in his eyes, and she giggled.

Leaning back and reaching for her left arm, then, he lifted it up, and she didn’t resist him, allowing him to take his role of playing doctor seriously for a moment as he examined how far she could lift her arm above her head before cringing. She had a decent range of movement, so nothing seemed broken or dislocated there, either.

He then checked her right arm, and got similar results. She had some deep bruising that he imagined would show on the surface later on, as she cringed as if bruised where he prodded even though there didn’t currently seem to be any discoloration, but the bones were not broken because Rin was right, that would have definitely hurt _much_ more severely.

Of course, he couldn’t help but notice the faint scarring she had on her arms and torso from the wolf attack when she’d been a child, but after learning of how she’d nearly died during that camping trip fourteen years ago he had been expecting to see lingering traces of where that wolf had torn into her. The scars were faint and in no way detracted from her beauty in his eyes; they were not his concern, his only worry as he examined her being fresh internal injuries caused by tonight’s incident. No matter where he poked and prodded or gently squeezed, though, or how far he flexed her shoulders, elbows and wrists, she only occasionally scrunched up her nose in mild discomfort. Nothing made her gasp out in sudden, intense pain, and so that was definitely a good sign.

Letting her lower both of her arms to rest her hands back in her lap again, he then decided to be bold for a moment, knowing this was supposed to be sexual, and so reaching forward with both hands he tenderly cupped her breasts. Her breathing hitched, but in a _good_ way, a moan escaping her lips as her eyes drifted back shut while he slowly and carefully started to squeeze and massage her sensitive, bra-clad globes. Running his thumbs over her cotton-covered nipples as he felt them harden beneath his touch, he smirked as she gasped softly, and told her with a teasing edge that those didn’t seem to be broken, either. She reopened her eyes and gave him an amused look, and he chuckled.

Getting more serious, then, he lowered each hand and felt her rib cage, genuinely checking for a cracked rib and feeling thankful when he could not find one. Pressing on each one individually and in multiple locations earned several soft grunts of mild discomfort from the girl, but there were no sharp stabs of pain as he poked and prodded, and they were both relieved by that fact. Bypassing her jeans for the time being, Sesshoumaru bent down and reached for her feet one at a time, untying and removing her shoes and socks for her while at the same time pushing on and flexing her ankles, making sure she hadn’t twisted or sprained either of them.

He was caught off guard when, as he sat back up, Rin quickly shifted her position, tucking in both of her legs and actually pushing on his chest with a firm hand to encourage him to sit fully back against the couch as she suddenly crawled over him and into his lap, straddling him. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her boldness but the amusement in his eyes was obvious, his lips quirked up into the faintest of grins, and so she did not feel nervous that she’d overstepped her bounds as she leaned against him and kissed him a third time. Maybe the Advil was taking affect, or maybe he had some kind of magic touch that had been healing her as he’d trailed his hands all over her body, but either way, she was feeling less and less achy from having smacked hard against a concrete wall and more and more achy in a _different_ way; a new type of ache she was certain he could help make go away as well.

Immediately complying with her unspoken request to get things moving, Sesshoumaru wrapped both of his hands around her back, and as she deepened the kiss, fisting his hair a second time, he made the quick decision to reach for and unfasten the hook of her bra. After all, she had already attempted to do so herself but had been unable to, that being slightly beyond her current range of movement. She _was_ injured, even if her injuries were thankfully not too severe, but he still knew he had to be careful with her for that reason. He would have to restrain his beast.

Rin pulled away from the kiss when she felt her bra go slack, sitting up enough to pull the undergarment away from herself. Sesshoumaru immediately leaned down and captured a hard nipple in his mouth, and Rin moaned, rocking her denim-clad heat against the growing stiffness she could feel in his slacks.

Sesshoumaru groaned against her flesh at the sensation, actually groaned, as the delicious friction she was creating in his pants caused a little-used part of his anatomy to stir to life, and suddenly, his mouth was back on hers, his hands on either side of her head to hold her in place as he kissed her so hard it was almost as if he were trying to suck out her very soul, except he wasn’t that kind of a vampire. After a moment, though, he did trail his mouth lower, working his way to her neck, and she tilted her head back in compliance with eyes closed in bliss, granting him access to that most vulnerable part of her with zero fear in her scent. He lapped up the dried blood that coated her skin, relishing in the taste of her as an approving rumble sounded from deep in the pit of his chest, but he kept his inner demon under control, his fangs tucked away, as he cleaned the blood from her skin before veering away from the lingering bite mark, trailing his tongue lower until he captured the opposite breast, very gently teasing her previously neglected nipple between flattened teeth as he nibbled without causing harm.

Rin continued to arch her back against his ministrations, letting him have his way with her, and it wasn’t long before his hands found their way to the button on her jeans, undoing it swiftly before next reaching for and pulling down the zipper. Moving his left hand behind her back to prevent her from losing her balance with the way she was still leaning backwards in his lap, he reached down into her pants and underwear with the fingers of his right hand, smirking in pride against the breast in his mouth to note how wet she already was. Slowly, he started rubbing, immediately finding the pearl hidden between her nether lips, and she moaned loudly at his touch, gasping and shakily rocking her hips against him. Pulling his mouth away from her breast he puckered his lips and blew gently, teasing her sensitive peaks with the stream of cool air, and she squeaked before sitting back up, the duel stimulation too much for her to bear.

“You’re overdressed,” she stated boldly, thoroughly turned on, as she reached for the hand down her jeans and yanked it out before pushing his suit jacket open, moving the lapels out of the way before making quick work of the buttons on his dress shirt.

Smirking, Sesshoumaru decided to stretch his arms out sideways along the back of the couch, letting the young woman sitting on his lap work unencumbered in her effort to undress him. Getting his shirt completely unbuttoned, revealing he wore no tank underneath, Rin then shoved at the shoulders of both his shirt and jacket, forcing the garments down his arms as he complied, moving his arms from the back of the couch to his sides, allowing her to fully remove his two top coverings to lay crumpled on the couch pinned behind him, rendering him nude from the waist up. She wasn’t done there, divesting him next of his belt, which she pulled free and dropped to the floor, before then working on the button and zipper fly of his own pants. Amused by her gusto, he decided to help her out with his undressing in that moment as he kicked off his dress shoes before using his toes to pull off his socks, making his own feet bare at the same time she reached her right hand down into his slacks and boxers to find his swiftly growing erection.

Closing his eyes, he permitted a faint moan of pleasure to escape him as she gently pulled and tugged, encouraging his excited flesh to increase in size even more as it came out to play and she wrapped her hand fully around him, pumping steadily. Opening his eyes back up, he tilted his head down slightly, watching her work with a mesmerized expression. A part of him couldn’t believe this was actually happening. They had been sitting beside each other on the couch, fully clothed, discussing Rin’s connection to the werewolves and vampires of the city. How had that shifted to the now topless woman with unfastened pants straddling his lap with his own torso unclad and his bare cock in her hand?

A bead of precum leaked from his tip and she spread it expertly with her thumb, and it was his turn to suck in a sharp gasp of air at the sensation, Rin’s heart swelling in pride to realize that she could so easily affect such a powerful man. She wasn’t a virgin, although her experiences were limited to a now _ex_ high school boyfriend, so she was tremendously relieved that she apparently knew what she was doing. Her boyfriend had been circumcised while Sesshoumaru was not, but that minor detail didn’t bother her in the slightest.

“I think...we are both still overdressed...” Sesshoumaru ground out as she gently pulled his foreskin back to lightly blow air across his sensitive mushroom head, teasing him the same way he had done to her nipples.

“I think...you’re right...” she answered slowly and seductively, scooting herself backwards to lower herself onto her knees on the floor before him, as she reached for the sides of his slacks and started pulling.

Wordlessly, Sesshoumaru complied, raising his hips so she could more easily tug his slacks and boxers off in one fluid movement. Pulling the garments free from his legs and feet, Rin then gazed up at him and her handiwork, smirking in triumph to have actually gotten him completely naked before she was fully nude herself. Opening his legs, she scooted herself in between them, reached for his shaft with her right hand, and lowered her mouth over him all before he had a chance to fully register what she’d obviously been planning on doing.

Growling at the sudden, intense pleasure, he clasped the couch cushion tightly in duel white knuckled grips at either side of his thighs so as to avoid surrendering to his desire to grab her head and guide her descent. She was injured, he had to repeatedly remind himself, something she occasionally let slip as she tried to move a certain way or do a certain thing before pausing as a wave of pain clearly came over her and then she went about readjusting her idea. She was doing her best to act like it didn’t pain her, but he knew the up and down motion had to be aggravating her headache, and it was obviously not pleasurable for her in return.

Suddenly, even with as good as it felt, he didn’t want her to continue, as he murmured gently, “That’s enough.”

She gazed up at him with the cutest worried expression he’d ever seen, as if she feared she might’ve possibly done something wrong, technique-wise, and so smirking then, he elaborated with, “You are still too overdressed,” as a playful reminder of where they both wanted this encounter to ultimately lead.

She smirked as well at his words, then, and replied with a playful, “Oh yeah,” – as if she could have possibly lost track of something like that – and then rising to her feet, she daintily shimmied out of her jeans and panties, tugging them both down while giving her hips a little side-to-side wiggle, and he thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Teasingly, Rin timed her move just right, and right before the garments would’ve been pushed down far enough to give Sesshoumaru the show he _really_ wanted she leaned forward, to tug them the rest of the way off, of course, but it made him wait those few extra seconds as she stepped her feet out of them. Finally, she stood back up straight, and there she was before him in all her naked glory.

How had this happened? When Inuyasha and Kagome had trusted him alone with her they surely had not expected _this_ to happen...or had they?

They _had_ both been pretty quick to leave the two of them alone, come to think of it, almost as if deliberately wanting to give them their privacy. Whatever their reasoning, he was not about to complain in that moment as Rin stepped forward, closing the gap between them – closing _every_ gap between them – as she crawled back on to his lap and reached for his throbbing erection with her right hand, aligning it at her entrance.

Closing his eyes, he scrunched his face and hissed in pleasure as she completed their joining at an agonizingly slow pace. He imagined he had to be much larger than her previous _human_ encounters, so he would let the girl take her time so that he did not contribute to the pain she felt in any way, but damn...

_Can she not move_ _ any _ _faster?_

As Rin felt him fill her up inch by delicious inch she savored the moment, mentally laughing at the look on his face. Finally sinking as far down over him as she could go, she wiggled her hips a little to get used to the sensation of being so full, and her vampiric lover groaned at the move, Sesshoumaru tipping his head back against the back of the couch. She giggled out loud then.

Of course, laughing caused her inner muscles to close even more tightly around him, and he snapped his head back up to stare at her with a firm, commanding look in his eyes. Eyes that were flickering back and forth between yellow and red.

“Tease me no longer, woman. Get _on_ with it, before I lose what little control I have left,” he commanded in a deep, rumbling voice, and instead of finding it frightening his demand sent _good_ shivers down her spine, although she did comply with his request, immediately raising and lowering herself over and over at a steady pace.

He growled in satisfaction, then, before his eyes faded back to yellow, and then Rin leaned forward, kissing his fangless mouth. His hands immediately lifted up to cup the back of her neck and head, kissing her back with all the passion he wanted to release down below but held back for fear of severely injuring her. He hated slow and tender, but for her sake he would let her continue to control their tempo.

Able to feel his desperation in their kiss, Rin tried her best to give him what she knew he wanted, maneuvering both of her feet to rest flat on the couch cushion beside his hips so that she was squatting over him and able to move herself up and down as quickly as possible, but it was still too slow for him.

Trailing his kisses to her jaw and then down the side of her throat, he shifted his mouth to the opposite side of her neck from where Victor had bitten her and clamped down, his still fangless mouth causing her no harm, and Rin moaned at the dominating reminder of just who – and _what –_ her lover actually was.

It excited her.

For some bizarre reason, while Inuyasha and Kagome were just normal people to her and just her friends, and Victor had terrified her like the boogie man he was, the stuff nightmares were made from, Sesshoumaru was exotic and alluring, the true epitome of sexy vampire lore.

She envisioned a fantasy scene of herself lying asleep in a Victorian canopy bed, silken curtains rustling in the breeze as her nightly visitor crept within her sleeping chamber as silent as death itself. Dressed in flowing white silk he would come to her, spy her angelic face relaxed in sleep and smile, and then move in, raising a hand above her form which would lure her from sleep, and she would flutter her eyes open, awaken to see this god standing before her, and she would obey his every command, sitting up and allowing him to come to her, her heaving breasts threatening to spill from her white lace nightgown as she gasped when he bit down, taking his fill from her in the most sinfully pleasurable of ways.

Was she wrong in the head?

Sesshoumaru was a _vampire_ , and she already knew from personal experience that being bitten by one, with their fangs out, didn’t actually feel _good_ in the slightest. But even so, she still found his flattened teeth clamped onto the uninjured side of her neck to be an erotic experience, despite herself, and so she quickly decided not to worry about whatever random storybook fantasies her mind conjured up. She much rather preferred the fantasy of this demonic man slaying her would-be killer just in time to save her life, though, the kind heart he tried to pretend he didn’t have feeling the same unexplainable connection to her as she’d felt for him when their eyes had first met.

He hadn’t admitted to it outright, but he did tell her, when he’d apologized for being unable to save Becky’s life, that saving Victor’s victims had not been his main goal; merely catching up to Victor and putting a stop to him had been. She’d quickly concluded that he had probably been unsure of what to do with her at first, and she wouldn’t doubt it if he ever confessed to having at least momentarily contemplated the notion of killing her himself, simply because she had been a witness to it all. She would instantly forgive him if that were the case, of course, considering that regardless of the thoughts that might or might not have passed through his head, he had _not_ killed her, and now, here they were, as close as any two separate beings could physically become.

He was _inside_ of her, and in more ways than one. He was inside her head and her heart, and while she didn’t know why or how it had happened, Rin _did_ know that she had never felt more complete than she did in that moment. She hadn’t even known she’d been missing a piece of herself until he came into her life, but now that he was here, she knew she would feel empty and incomplete when he finally left her.

Desperately trying not to think about _that,_ Rin picked up the pace, putting her body to the test as she raised and lowered herself over and over as quickly as she could, her thigh muscles burning.

Releasing her neck, Sesshoumaru leaned his head back at her increase in tempo, and he couldn’t help the groan that escaped him as he raised his hips a few times to meet her on the down strokes, helping to shove himself even further up inside her, wrenching a gasp from the girl as he hit that special something every time. Finally unable to stand it any longer, he reached for her hips, trying to grab her gently enough to not aggravate the bruising he could see starting to form more predominately in a few locations, but still firmly enough to get her attention and cease her up and down motion.

Coming to a stop, Rin actually appreciated the reprieve, panting a little as she blinked at him curiously, wondering what he had in mind.

“Brace yourself,” he stated simply, and then suddenly, while holding her in place, Sesshoumaru started pistoning his hips at a speed much faster than she could have ever hoped to accomplish.

Squeaking in surprise and gasping loudly, Rin could do nothing more than hold on for the ride, as her hands found purchase on Sesshoumaru’s shoulders. It was insane, it was almost _too_ much, but definitely in a good way.

“Oh God, yes!” she shouted, throwing her head back while throwing her inhibitions out the window. Yes, Sesshoumaru’s firm grip on her bruised hips hurt a little bit, but she didn’t give a _fuck_.

Rumbling in approval of her reaction, Sesshoumaru enjoyed the sight of her swiftly bouncing breasts as he continued to jackhammer his cock up into her dripping pussy at a pace much faster than a human man would be able to maintain for more than a few fleeting seconds. For several minutes he kept Rin locked in place above him, forcing her to _take it_ , and she took it like a good little bitch as her orgasm rushed up out of nowhere and raced through her body at lightning speed, an ear-splitting shriek tearing from her lips as tears of pleasure-pain fell from her eyes.

She never once begged him to stop, knowing that he wouldn’t, not that she really wanted him to, anyway. White hot burning pleasure tore through her body, and she cried out, her sobs echoing loudly off the walls as if she were being tortured, and tortured she was, as her second and then third orgasms clawed their way through her overly sensitized nerves.

“Please!” she begged then, out of breath, and he knew what she was truly asking of him. There was only way for her torment to come to an end.

Sesshoumaru felt it in that moment, her begging the final trigger that caused that telltale tingling at the base of his spine to creep up as his balls tightened. Tightening his hold on her hips in turn, he ignored her whimper of discomfort as his eyes flashed back to crimson and large fangs grew in his mouth. All at once his release crashed over him, drowning out his senses as he flooded her insides with his essence, holding her down over him as tightly as he dared while simultaneously shoving himself as far up within her as he could reach. But he did not move forward to bite her, able to control at least that much of himself as he locked eyes with her, her chocolate brown orbs widening in surprise but not fear as he snarled like the demon he was, hell-fire burning behind his rutilant gaze.

Finally, his locked muscles relaxed, as he loosened his grip of her, and thoroughly spent, Rin immediately collapsed against him, resting her face in the crook of his neck as she shuddered, leftover tingles still traveling through her body every time he shifted below her even the slightest degree.

“Holy fuck,” she rasped out after a few moments had passed, and he chuckled.

“I can assure you there was nothing ‘holy’ about it,” he quipped, and she pulled back enough to meet his eyes, amusement sparkling in her own.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she retorted, chuckling. “I think I saw Heaven at least once or twice.”

Sesshoumaru laughed as well at that, and held still as Rin slowly separated herself from him, a hiss escaping both of their lips as his gradually deflating phallus slipped from her hot sheath. The scent of sex was strong in the air, but Sesshoumaru wasn’t worried about Inuyasha having a problem with that, considering the apartment was already permeated with the scent of his repeated joinings with Kagome.

Whether or not the two would actually have a problem with the fact that he and Rin had fucked was yet to be seen, but it was really none of their business. Rin, while young, was definitely an adult capable of making her own decisions, and it might sound like the lamest excuse in the world but _she_ came onto _him_. It was the truth and he would not allow his ‘brother’ to misguidedly think that he had manipulated or taken advantage of the human girl in any way.

What was he supposed to do, resist her advances? He was over four hundred years old but he wasn’t _dead_ , and when a hot girl wants to have sex with you, you comply, simple as that.

Not that he could truly convince himself it had only been about the sex. Sesshoumaru knew he’d be lying if he tried to claim now that he had no feelings for the girl whatsoever. What he _did_ feel for her he wasn’t quite sure, but he had never before in his entire life experienced the emotions he currently felt, which included a desire to keep Rin safe from harm, including himself. He was a demon spawned from an ancient curse, a human transformed to feast on the blood of his own people for all eternity, and he _had_ tasted her blood and it was _delicious_ , yet he did not wish to drink from her because that would harm her, and he did not wish to harm her.

He had never before met a human he didn’t want to kill because he _liked_ them; she was definitely unique.

As if sensing that he had suddenly slipped into the shadows of his own mind, Rin, while gathering her discarded clothing and slipping it back on, asked him in that way most girls tended to do, “What are you thinking about?”

Snapping back to reality at the sound of her voice, Sesshoumaru saw the way she was dressing and quickly decided that getting dressed himself would be a good idea, as well, even though there would be no concealing the now disheveled nature of his suit. As he rose from the couch and slipped his boxers and pants back on he surprised both Rin and himself with actually answering her question.

“I still cannot figure out why you have become important to me, why it should matter to me that you be left safe and unharmed, aside from your obvious connections to Inuyasha and Kagome.”

After all, he wouldn’t hurt her anyway for that reason, regardless. But...

“Despite what you mean to them, I personally for myself have no desire to harm you, either, and even if you were not an important person to them you would have nothing to fear from me.”

Rin’s eyes sparkled with happiness as she gazed his way at his words, and she quickly confessed to feeling something special about him, too. She didn’t know what it was, or where it’d come from, but it was _not_ merely some psychological reaction from him having saved her life. She was a big girl, and she knew what was in her own heart, and she did _not_ regret their joining. She told him also of how she did not fear him, having full confidence that he would never ever hurt her. Whatever it was he claimed to feel for her, she believed him, because she felt it, too. There was something there, between the both of them, she was sure of it.

While not truly begging him to stay, because she knew he had come into town for a purpose and would undoubtedly be leaving now that that purpose had been fulfilled, Rin confessed, “I know I will never feel this way about anyone else for the rest of my life. I will truly miss you when you go, like a part of me has left with you.”

He remained silent at that, the look in his eyes contemplative. A part of him didn’t really want to leave Rin, either, although he knew he had to. He had too much business that needed to be attended to elsewhere. He could not ‘settle down’ as Victor had not been the only brat in need of...lecturing...although he’d certainly been the most troublesome of the time being, which was why he had been in pursuit.

But there were other places he needed to go, now. Other matters in need of his attention. He had many human moles in many important places that required the occasional surprise visit from him in order to ensure their continued loyalty, not to mention the council of elders he had helped forge that met on occasion to discuss potential threats, like Victor had been. He was a busy, busy man.

Yet, in that moment...

“If you remain here, Rin, and continue to allow Inuyasha and Kagome to look after you in my absence, I will return however frequently my schedule permits.”

Her face broke out into the largest smile he’d seen the girl wear yet, and she threw herself into his arms in her happiness. Unable to help himself, and truly not wanting to resist anyway, Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her then, returning her embrace.

By the time Kagome and Inuyasha returned, suspiciously at the same time, the two were ‘innocently’ watching television, although the scent in the air betrayed their secret, as Sesshoumaru had known it would. He turned his head to meet the pair’s eyes with a look in his own that stated loud and clear disapproval would _not_ be permitted. He then proceeded to wrap his arm around Rin’s shoulders, and the human girl immediately snuggled against his side.

Much to his relief, he merely received an approving nod from Inuyasha, while Kagome shot him a teasing smirk. Paying them no more attention, then, he turned back to the TV program Rin had wanted him to see.

`````````````````````````````

“I think you look cute, quit worrying!” Rin laughed, as Kagome tugged at her skirt for the tenth time.

She was wearing Rin’s ‘Japanese school girl’ costume from last year’s Halloween. The two were about the same size, and Rin _claimed_ the costume fit her just fine, but Kagome was positive the skirt was not supposed to be _that_ short.

“I agree, I think you look... _cute_...” Inuyasha purred, poking his head into the bedroom to see what the women were up to after changing into his own costume in the bathroom.

Since Kagome was doing a Japanese thing he had decided, for the hell of it, to wear some crazy-ass bright red Japanese robes, complete with a katana on his hip, although he wasn’t worried about his silver hair and golden eyes. According to him, he was going as a _youkai_ , a form of Japanese spirit or demon, and so his hair was perfectly excusable then. He’d even applied fake claws over his fingernails, and he could turn on the red eyes and fangs at the flip of a switch so, if appropriate, he’d amp up the look that extra bit, too.

“Oh I can’t wait!” Rin continued to gush, the girl almost exploding at the seams in her happiness. “This is going to be so much fun!”

They were meeting up with Kagome’s mother and brother, and the five of them were going to go to the local ‘haunted house’ that had been constructed in a vacant lot. They weren’t going to remain a group of five the entire night, though, and that was the real reason why Rin was so excited.

Sesshoumaru had ended up staying for the rest of the night and subsequently the following day at Kagome and Inuyasha’s apartment, holding Rin throughout the night as she’d slept lying against him on the couch before it had then been Rin’s turn to let him and the others sleep as she remained as quiet as she could, watching TV on her laptop with her headphones.

Thankfully, Kagome had thought to include those in her luggage, otherwise the girl would have been bored out of her mind, knowing she couldn’t leave the apartment looking like how she looked. Her bruises had definitely continued to develop and by the following day a good portion of her body had been black and blue, not that Sesshoumaru had seemed to mind it in the least, except for the faint trace of remorse she’d been able to read in his eyes for the fact that she’d gotten so hurt in the first place. When it’d been time for him to leave the following night, he had promised, much to her surprise and delight, that he would be back in town on Halloween, and she knew he would keep that promise.

Thankfully, the last few days had been crazy enough that time had just flown on by, and so now, here it was, Halloween day, just a little past sunset, and they were getting ready to head out. She couldn’t wait! She hadn’t expected to see him again so soon, if at all, figuring that he’d have to steer clear at least for a little while because of the whole Victor thing, but considering he had a ‘friend’ in the FBI that was a part of the investigation there was really nothing for Sesshoumaru to worry about, as far as his involvement was concerned. He had informed his informant that the matter had been dealt with, not that the guy could tell the others or stop the search for the killer, but that search would thankfully not point in any of their directions. Sesshoumaru had made sure of that.

Rin had made one quick phone call first thing in the morning after her first night at Kagome’s apartment, letting her mother know what had happened and what the story was, and why she _really_ needed the next few days off work versus the story her family was to tell the police should they ask. It certainly helped, working at the family flower shop, so she hadn’t had to worry about coming up with any actual excuses for taking time off of work, and since her parents and older brother were also ‘in the know’ telling them the truth so that they knew why they had to lie to the police had not been an issue.

On Kagome’s next shift at the diner, when people had worriedly asked her what had happened and if everything was all right, she’d claimed that her _brother_ had had an emergency, her mother having been the one to frantically call her and beg for her to come over and help. Her family had been prepared to play along, too, although once Becky’s body had actually been discovered and the police swooped in to investigate it hadn’t even been an issue. As Sesshoumaru had predicted, both she and Rin had been cleared of any involvement by the local police almost immediately and the investigation, which was once again in the hands of the FBI, revolved exclusively around trying to find the serial killer.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Checking herself one last time in the mirror, Rin smirked at what she saw. She had no idea what Sesshoumaru was going to be dressed up as, if he even dressed up at all, but she had decided to make her fantasy come to life, at least in her own mind, donning a reproduction Victorian gown in rich yellow and gold. There was a method to her madness, since not all of the bruises on her body had completely faded yet and so she couldn’t show as much skin as she would have normally liked, but she thought the dress was absolutely beautiful and so it was a compromise she didn’t mind making in the slightest. Makeup took care of the lingering trace of bruising on her cheek, and with her hair worn up, a silk band choker concealed the faint scar left behind by Victor’s teeth. She was a vision of nineteenth century perfection.

With everybody ready to go, they quickly headed out and met up with Kagome’s mother and brother, Souta having finally come around the rest of the way. Especially since tonight was Halloween, he’d said that he figured he could put what Kagome _was_ out of his mind and simply enjoy the holiday with his big sister, since there had always been a truce between their races on Halloween, anyway.

His words really meant a lot to Kagome, not that she got all gushy on him ‘cause she knew Souta wouldn’t like that, instead just ruffling the boy’s hair with a playfully murmured, “Thanks, squirt.”

He immediately squeaked that she was ruining his costume, of course, even though that wasn’t true because actually, the more disheveled his hair looked, the better. The former she-wolf truly got a kick out of the fifteen-year-old’s ‘teen wolf’ costume, not from the new drama series but from the original movie staring Michael J. Fox. He was even wearing a yellow basketball jersey over all the faux fur, although to avoid unnecessary hours in the makeup chair he was actually wearing nylon thin leggings and sleeves that had been covered in fur beforehand.

Mrs. Higurashi had decided against doing anything quite so elaborate for herself, of course, although after giving in to Souta’s begging she _was_ wearing a headband with erect doggie ears on it, her hairstyle concealing her real ears, with a fake tail clipped to the back of her pants.

Kagome absolutely loved her family.

Heading over to the haunted house, which had a few carnival games and snack booths and such built around it to make the whole area into a mini Halloween-themed carnival, the five of them had a fabulous time traversing the maze, the unsuspecting humans milling around remaining completely unaware of the fact that real monsters were in their midst. Everyone picked on Rin good-naturedly for being the only one repeatedly caught off guard by the dressed-up zombies and things that would jump out at them in an effort to spook them, but she laughed along with everyone else’s teasing, knowing it was all in good fun. It wasn’t _her_ fault she lacked a superhuman sense of smell and hearing!

It was everyone’s knowledge of the fact that Rin was just an ordinary human that made the moment even more spectacular when, while waiting in line for popcorn, the vampires and werewolves of the group all suddenly scented who was on the approach, but then before they had a chance to tell her, everyone witnessed how the human girl, mid-sentence, interrupted herself as her eyes widened, and then turning and darting out of the popcorn line without a single word to anyone, she ran with giddy excitement into the arms of the vampire that had been approaching them from the side.

He had not been within Rin’s field of vision from that angle.

In fact, Sesshoumaru had originally been trying to sneak up on the girl, just for the fun of it, but when she somehow sensed his approach and turned to rush towards him he merely opened his arms to accept her embrace, doing his best to ignore the smirking faces of the two other vampires and curious glances of the two werewolves present.

“I take it that’s Sesshoumaru,” Kagome’s mother whispered to her daughter, earning a “Yup,” from the former werewolf.

“Rin definitely has good taste in men,” Mrs. Higurashi stated then with a womanly giggle, earning a matching giggle from her daughter, which earned duel sets of rolled eyes by Inuyasha and Souta.

“Women...” the crimson-clad vampire grumbled playfully in the boy’s direction, earning an equally playful “You said it,” from the fifteen-year-old in reply.

Breaking apart after a moment, Sesshoumaru couldn’t help asking, “How did you know I was there?”

Rin just shrugged, knowing she had sensed his approach out of nowhere with nothing to tip her off outside of the feeling she’d just suddenly gotten in her heart, but she wasn’t as amazed by that fact as everyone else was.

“I just knew, I guess, because suddenly my missing piece came back to me,” she answered with a loving smile, and offering her the tenderest of grins in return, he leaned down and planted a delicate kiss on her lips.

“Ewwwww!” Souta croaked loudly, effectively killing the mood, which earned laughter from Inuyasha and Kagome while Sesshoumaru shot the boy a nasty glare and Rin playfully stuck out her tongue at the youth.

“If we needed any more proof that they belong together, I think that’s it,” Kagome commented to Inuyasha then, gesturing to Sesshoumaru’s Victorian-era aristocratic garb of white and gold.

“Go keep her company for a sec,” Inuyasha replied, as he nodded in the pair’s direction, Rin dragging Sesshoumaru by the hand as she got back in line for popcorn.

Raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend, Kagome didn’t question him and headed with him over to where Rin and Sesshoumaru were, her mother and Souta keeping themselves busy for the time being waiting in line for a churro.

“A moment?” Inuyasha asked Sesshoumaru quietly as they approached, quietly enough so that Rin wouldn’t hear.

Nodding his head in consent ever so slightly, Sesshoumaru murmured affectionately to Rin, “I will return momentarily,” before leaving her in Kagome’s care to follow Inuyasha around to the side of the main building, away from prying eyes and ears.

“You know she’s gonna want to jump your bones as soon as she can get you alone; that look she was giving you said it loud and clear,” Inuyasha opened once they were alone. “I hope that’s not the only reason you came back.”

Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“If you are insinuating that I view her as some sort of _booty call_ , I can assure you-”

Inuyasha held up a hand to silence the oncoming tirade.

“Okay, I’m sorry. It just had to be said,” he amended, Sesshoumaru’s initial reaction to the accusation being the only proof he needed to know that it wasn’t the case. “Not that I think Rin would even mind it, anyway, because she’s fallen for you hard, man. She’ll take you in whatever form she can get, and she’s a consenting adult, so ultimately that’s up to her.”

Sesshoumaru had a look that stated his patience was wearing thin as far as where Inuyasha was going with this.

“Yes, it is, so what is the point of this discussion?” he asked his ‘little brother’ then, trying to keep his tone of voice calm and not overly rude.

He was relieved at least that Inuyasha didn’t seem to be playing the role of the overprotective father, trying to keep he and Rin apart. _That_ wouldn’t be happening, no matter what Inuyasha’s opinion was on the matter.

“I was just wondering what your plans were for the future, is all, and whether or not they included her,” he answered, earning a raised eyebrow from the older vampire. “I’m not going to try to stop you two from seeing each other, but even so, I don’t want to see her get hurt, either.”

Ah, so there was a bit of a protective streak in him, after all, but he was being reasonable about it.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes softened ever so slightly.

“I can assure you my intentions are as honorable as they possibly can be, under the circumstances,” he told Inuyasha then. “I will not impregnate her with a bastard dhampir, and I will not abandon her as she begins to age.”

Inuyasha nodded, pleased with what he was hearing so far.

Sesshoumaru continued.

“It is not my desire to use her for sex, taking advantage of the emotions she feels for me. I truly do feel something for her in return, something I have never felt for anyone before, even when I was human. Perhaps it is love? I do not know. But my intention is to return to visit with her as often as my schedule permits, for as long as she will have me, and I do not at this time foresee any reason why that arrangement would cease, unless she is the one to end it. If she cannot accept what I am able to offer her I will accept her decision in return and abide by her wishes, but it is my desire to remain in her company.”

Inuyasha nodded again, smiling.

“I could see it in your eyes, man. I knew your feelings for her were legit, I just wanted to hear your pompous ass actually admit it. That you so freely did, there ain’t no _way_ you’re ever gonna break her heart.”

Sesshoumaru nodded, before then furrowing his brow, frowning slightly.

“Although...she will break mine, the moment death claims her, should she remain mortal.”

Inuyasha’s eyes shown with sympathy at the dilemma. Her humanity was part of who she was, and what he loved about her, but it would ultimately also be what took her away.

“If you want my advise, you should discuss that option with her openly, and _don’t_ wait before it’s almost too late and it’s a life or death situation. I lucked out with Kagome, but she could have just as easily decided to hate my ass and never want to see me again.”

Sesshoumaru nodded again, now aware of the details surrounding how the former werewolf had become Inuyasha’s chosen female.

“Like I said, Rin’s a consenting adult, so if you make her the offer and she agrees, then more power to you. Kagome and I have discussed it privately in the past, and she doesn’t want to ‘do’ that to Rin because she’s so sweet and innocent ‘n’ stuff; she don’t want to turn her into a monster and take her away from the sunshine and flowers she loves so much. But for you, Rin just might be willing to make that sacrifice.”

“I will...give the matter some thought,” Sesshoumaru stated, and Inuyasha figured that was good enough for now. There was no pressing hurry, after all.

The two male vampires reappeared from around the back of the haunted house just as Kagome and Rin received their popcorn. Sesshoumaru gave Kagome a funny look as the vampiress started munching on the buttery kernels, but she just stared at him right back.

“What? I _like_ popcorn.”

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru chuckled. He couldn’t help but notice how becoming a ‘monster’ had not seemed to rob Kagome of her own ‘innocent’ personality, though granted he had never met the girl prior to her transformation, but he found her behavior encouraging, imagining that his Rin probably wouldn’t change too much, either.

_My Rin_...

He liked the sound of that.

It was definitely something that the two of them would need to discuss, but not tonight, he decided then, as he walked with the others towards Kagome’s mom and brother.

Meeting back up with Mrs. Higurashi and Souta, the latter happily munching on his churro, the six of them then decided to walk the streets for a while, enjoying people-watching as they gradually escorted Rin back home to her apartment. She hadn’t had the time to even think about trying to find a new roommate yet, still dealing with Becky’s grieving mother and packing up the dead girl’s belongings, so for the time being she had the apartment all to herself.

She didn’t like being there alone, since the place was now filled with so many sad memories. Perhaps it was time to fill the place with some _happy_ memories, instead.

Reaching her apartment complex, Rin met Sesshoumaru’s gaze with unabashed adoration, and asked him rather boldly in front of everyone, “Would you like to come in?”

“That’s our cue!” Souta grumbled loudly, playfully scurrying further down the street followed by a flustered Mrs. Higurashi who was frantically trying to catch up with her son.

Kagome laughed, and then much to her and Inuyasha’s amusement Sesshoumaru actually turned to look back their way and stated with a wink, “Don’t wait up.”

That earned a laugh from Rin, who then grabbed Sesshoumaru’s hand again and led him into the deepest recesses of her apartment complex, probably not to be seen or heard from again for at least two or three days, the other vampires mused, if that look Rin had flashed both their ways was any indication.

Shaking his head in amusement, Inuyasha said, “Come on, we better catch up,” as he grabbed Kagome’s hand and tugged her after him to sprint after her brother and mom. They would escort the pair the rest of the way home, since nobody had any qualms with the vampires being within ‘wolf territory’ on that night. Kagome wanted to say hi to her grandfather before it got too late, and then she and Inuyasha would head back out and hit the local bar scene.

As they walked side by side, Kagome shot Inuyasha an appreciative glance, thinking about how much her life had changed in only one short year. If she could go back in time she would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

~ Fin ~


End file.
